Mega Man 3
by doctorwho29
Summary: Following the events of Asteroid Blues, Mega Man had hoped that troubles were finally over. However, he is soon drawn into a battle with old and new enemies alike.
1. A Day at the Park

**Hello there! Time to continue the ongoing saga of the Blue Bomber. Mega Man 3 is a pretty significant game in the series and I hope I can do it justice. Happy reading!**

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Chapter 1: A Day at the Park

"See if you can catch this one!" Rock said with a grin as he flung a Frisbee across the park. The plastic disk flew fast and far but a red robot dog was hot on the chase. He leapt high into the air, caught the disc in his mouth, and touched back down.

"Way to go Rush!" Rock shouted as the dog's eyes sparkled and his tail wagged. Instead of simply bringing the Frisbee back, Rush spun on the spot and tried to throw it to his master. Rock ran after the disc and tripped as he caught it with fumbling fingers. "You're better at this than I am Rush" he said with a laugh and the dog barked happily.

"Hey there Rock!" a voice called.

He turned to see a group of children running towards him while enthusiastically waving and smiling. He waved back and replied to the boy who had shouted "Hi Bobby, good to see you!"

"Same to you Rock."

"Hey is that your dog?" a girl in the group asked

"He sure is Lisa" Rock answered with a smile while Rush happily chased a squirrel up a tree. "His name is Rush. Dr. Light built him for me."

"Wow" said yet another child "I'm surprised he has time with all he's up to these days."

"He does like to tinker in his spare time, Joe" Rock explained "And he thought Rush would be more useful than the support items."

"Useful?" Bobby asked "What do you mean?"

"Watch this" Rock replied as his smile grew wider "Hey Rush, let's show them jet mode."

Rush abandoned the squirrel somewhat reluctantly and began running back toward the kids. Suddenly, the robot dog jumped up from the ground and tucked his legs up under his body. Within seconds, he had further morphed until he was less of a dog and more of a jet powered hover board with a dog's head. He soared over the grass towards the slack jawed human children and the grinning robot boy.

Rock leapt onto Rush's back and soared up into the air. Bobby, Lisa, and Joe gasped in awe as the robotic pair sailed above the trees and kept climbing. Rock circled around and made like he was going to dive bomb his friends. Joe actually threw his hands over his head and missed the part where Rock pulled up at the last minute causing Lisa and Bobby to cheer wildly. Encouraged by their reaction, he dropped to one knee and held on to Rush's body as they did a loop to loop.

"Yeah go Rock!" Bobby shouted

Up above Rock whispered something into Rush's ear. He then straightened up and jumped. Rush meanwhile rocketed to the ground and turned back into a dog. The instant all four paws were on the ground a small platform on a spring popped out of his back. Rock dropped right towards his dog, landed squarely on the spring board, and popped back into the air. He did a somersault and landed feet first on the grass. Sadly, he forgot about the effect a metal body can have on soft ground and left quiet a dent.

"Oops, the groundskeeper won't like that."

"That was amazing!" Bobby said "I wish I had a robot dog. All I've got is a silly old fish."

"Fish are cool"

"Not as cool as Rush; can I go for a ride?"

"Ah it might not be safe. He can go really fast."

"Cool"

"Maybe some time soon if you promise to wear a helmet."

"Yes Mom" Bobby sarcastically replied

"A spring and a jet" Lisa said "Can he do anything else?"

"Yeah actually; in water he can turn into a submarine. It's a bit cramped but it gets the job done."

"Astounding" Joe remarked "Dr. Light sure is a genius."

"Well we've learned quite a few things…yes, yes boy you were amazing up there" Rock said as the dog butted against him looking for attention. Rock knelt down and hugged Rush before continuing "As I was saying, we've learned a few things from examining the alien tech we've excavated. We didn't get to keep everything but Dr. Light did get to look some stuff over including the remains of the Asteroid Guardians."

"And all that tech is going to help you in the battles to come" Bobby said as he pointed his fist straight forward and pretended to fire on invisible enemies.

"I'm not planning on doing any more fighting" Rock said as he stood up but kept one hand on Rush's head

"Then why did Dr. Light not just make you a dog" Bobby asked "Why did he give him upgrades of the Support Items if not for use in battle?"

"Well to be honest I'm not sure a spring is really an upgrade. Also I do other things like there was that fire and not to mention those criminals I helped stop the other day. I simply try to help where I can."

"Yeah but what if more alien robots show up?" Joe asked "What if good robots are reprogrammed again or someone like Dr. Wily builds more evil ones? Senator Camp has been going on and on about how robots are dangerous and we need to stop…oh well that doesn't include you of course" he added quickly when Rock gave him a look

"Oh Joe you're such a worry wart, not to mention a nerd" Bobby said "What kid cares what some senator is saying?"

"It's good to stay informed on world events" Joe said as he straightened his glasses in a dignified fashion

"And he does have a point" Lisa cut in "Bad things happen all the time, even if they aren't evil robots."

"If they do, I'll be ready to step in. I just hope the current peace lasts and I'm dealing with minor issues at best."

"The news says there's a lot going on at Light Labs these days" Joe said

"And Rock told us about all that anyway" Bobby said with an eyeroll "Like all the new robots they're making."

"Yeah those guys" Rock said with a smile "They've been great in helping with the clean up, rebuilding, excavating of ruins…all of it."

"The news also said that you guys are working on a secret extra project" Joe said "Something to really help if trouble comes along."

"I'm not really supposed to talk about it" Rock said looking a bit uncomfortable

"So there is a top secret project" Bobby replied with a gleam in his eye "Come on, we're you're friends, give us a hint."

"I don't know…"

"Please" Lisa said and all three of them looked eager and curious

"Let's just say that it's a big undertaking and it could do a lot of good."

"That doesn't really tell us anything" Bobby whined

"I told you it's a secret. Dr. Wily thinks that it's best."

The kids shivered when they heard this and Bobby said "I still can't believe he's living with you."

"He seems to have really changed. Think of all the good he was responsible for in the asteroid crisis. That's one reason he was granted parole so early as well as his very good behavior. He's a real help around the lab and had some really good ideas for the new robots."

"Yeah let's let the maniac…ok the ex-maniac work on robots" Bobby said

"As I said, he's much better now. Everything is going smoothly."

"Well I think that's great" Lisa said

"It certainly does act as a glimmer of hope in a bleak world" Joe added

"Wow are you sure you're really a kid" Bobby asked Joe while giving him a weird look

"Well I agree" Rock said "I think it's very encouraging to see someone like Dr. Wily making such an honest effort to change and so far he's succeeding."

"Yeah so far" Bobby said under his breath

"I would probably find it weird to live with a guy who tried to kill me" Lisa observed

"Well he doesn't have a home anymore and he is still technically on probation. It's really just the best situation for the time being. However, yeah it can be a little weird" Rock confessed.

"I bet" Bobby said "Anyway, enough talk, let's do something!"

Everyone else agreed and soon a nice game of Frisbee was going. Rock intended to hold back a bit so as not to give his friends too hard a time but they were actually challenging him a bit. Bobby hurled the disc with his powerful arm and it actually sailed right through Rock's hands despite his robot reflexes and vision.

"Oh yeah, who's the greatest?"

"Everyone gets lucky now and then" Rock said as he retrieved the disc

"It's pure skill, no luck involved."

"Oh yeah, then catch this."

Rock intended to really put some speed on that thing but Rush snatched it out of the air before it had even gone a few yards.

"Rush, we're trying to play now" Rock said as he tried to wrench the Frisbee from his dog's mouth. Rush on the other hand, seemed to think they were now playing tug of war

"Let him play if he wants" Lisa said and the boys voiced their agreement

"I still think you should let us ride him" Bobby said

"Catch is more traditional for dogs" Joe said nervously with a glance at the sky

"You're just a chicken" Bobby countered

"I am not"

"Guys" Rock said as he finally reclaimed the Frisbee and threw it for Rush to chase "I thought we wanted to have fun and arguing isn't very fun."

"It can be" Bobby said

Before Rock could say anything, Rush came bounding back with the Frisbee in his mouth and bowled Rock over in a playful tackle. Everyone, Rock included, laughed at this turn of events. He managed to get the dog to get off of him and soon the multi-way game of catch was underway again. Rock smiled as he simply enjoyed the time with his friends. Inwardly, he repeated his wish that peace would last for a long time but another part of his mind knew that trouble never seemed to be far away from him.


	2. Dr Wily Redeemed

Chapter 2: Dr. Wily Redeemed

"Good morning everyone" Rock said as he entered the dining room.

"Good morning my boy" Dr. Light said as he put down his newspaper to greet his robot son

"Hi Rock" his twin sister Roll said as he entered the room with Dr. Light's breakfast and set it before him.

"Ah, this looks and smells delicious" Dr. Light said with a smile "My dear, your cooking skills are phenomenal."

"Thank you very much but I can't take all the credit. After all you programmed me."

"Indeed" he said with a chuckle

"I guess Dr. Wily is sleeping in again?" Rock asked as he sat down at the table. As robots, Rock and Roll did not need to eat but they enjoyed any quality time spent with Dr. Light.

"It would seem so" Dr. Light answered "Even back in college, Albert was never much of a morning person."

"Night owls have more fun" Dr. Wily said as he entered the dining room. He yawned and adjusted his tie. It was a black one with a stylized skeleton on it.

"A bit formal for an average day isn't it, Albert?"

"What? I like it. A sharp new image for the new me."

"A new you with the same old skull patterns."

"Ah you're always picking on me" Dr. Wily said as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Rock giggled and Dr. Wily turned to him "Is something amusing you?"

"I just enjoy watching the two of you. You get along almost like brothers."

Both scientists seemed to be embarrassed but pleased by this statement. "Thank you" Dr. Wily said "That's kind of you to say."

"Then again" Roll cut in "Rock is one of those who sees the good in everything."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing I guess but you can come across as a bit naïve."

"While caution should be exercised in all things, optimism and looking for the good in others are not bad things" Dr. Wily said "I mean look at you guys. You took me in after all I've done to you. That's a truly noble thing to do."

"And I'm glad to do it, Albert" Dr. Light said "Anything to help you move on as you so wish to do."

"Yes" Dr. Wily replied sadly "I just hope I'm doing enough to make up for my crimes."

"You're doing more than enough Albert. Just look at the work you've done on the new line of Robot Masters."

"Not to mention Gamma" Rock said

"Thank you" Dr. Wily sighed deeply and toyed with his eggs a bit

"Something wrong Albert?"

"Well…" he began slowly "I suppose I miss my own creations. I shouldn't complain too much for a man in my position but I still think it wasn't entirely fair for their remains to be confiscated like that."

"I do agree but I also add that their only function was battle." Dr. Wily shot Dr. Light a look and he quickly added "Not that I think that devalues them as robots but you must see it from the point of view of the authorities."

"I suppose" Dr. Wily said but he didn't sound very convinced.

The rest of the meal passed with lighter subjects and soon the guys left Roll to clean up while they began the day's work. They left the living quarters of Light Labs and entered a very large hangar which was used for larger projects. Filling most of the space was a nearly complete robot standing roughly 100 feet tall. It had a blue torso, red arms and legs, and yellow hands. This impressive body was topped by a surprisingly small head with the Greek letter "gamma" on its blue helmet.

"Magnificent" Dr. Light said as he surveyed the project "It was always my dream to construct such a robot. Think of the possibilities: peace keeping, help in natural disasters, and protection from more alien threats."

"And here I thought you just enjoyed anime with giant mech battles a little too much" Dr. Wily joked

"I still can't wait to see the crowd reaction when we unveil this" Rock said with boyish enthusiasm "I kind of wish we could tell people about it now."

Dr. Wily said "Perhaps I'm being overly paranoid but I've learned to be a bit careful with revealing a project before people can see its many benefits."

"Ok, I guess that makes sense."

"Let's get to work" Dr. Light said. He crossed to a work bench and carefully picked up a fragment of a refractor "I've said it before but these alien crystals are amazing. There's so much power in them."

"Too bad they tend to overwhelm most of our robots" Dr. Wily remarked "However, they're perfect for this big boy."

"Yes. With these refractors as the fuel, who knows how long Gamma will run? Possibly forever."

"You're getting carried away Thomas. Nothing lasts forever."

"Yes" Dr. Light replied a bit more seriously. He glanced at Dr. Wily with an serious expression and the other scientist grew a bit red in the face.

"What? Is there food caught in moustache or something?"

"Er, no" Dr. Light said as he gave his head a slight shake "I just zoned out for a moment."

"Well if you're ready to come back to earth, we need to get to work" Dr. Wily said as he retrieved his tool belt from a nearby table and threw it around his waist

"Indeed" Dr. Light said as he strapped on some work goggles and began climbing the scaffolding around Gamma "Will you please bring me up one of those refractors Rock?"

"Sure thing, Dr. Light."

Soon the three of them were hard at work on various tasks in the construction of Gamma. Not for the first time, Rock was impressed with how well the old enemies worked in perfect sync. At one point, Dr. Light handed Dr. Wily the tool he needed before he even asked for it. They also never seemed to get in each other's way when working in the tight spaced inner workings of the giant machine. There was one tense moment where Dr. Light was climbing out of the robot and missed his footing on the scaffolding. Instantly, Dr. Wily was there with a steady hand to keep his colleague from falling.

"Whew, that was close" Dr. Light said with relief as he steadied himself on the platform "Thank you very much Albert."

"Don't mention it Thomas."

"I think that might be a good moment to take a break."

"I wouldn't mind taking five, myself"

They climbed down to the ground level where Rock was already waiting with some cold drinks. They sat down to enjoy the refreshment while Rock ran back to the main house to get some snacks for the doctors. They sipped their drinks for a moment before Dr. Light broke the silence.

"It's really a shame we went our separate ways after college, Albert."

"Life happens"

"Yes but we had plans, we had dreams."

"Well some of my dreams are certainly coming true."

"It is?"

"Well for one thing we finally created a line of Robot Masters together."

"And they are performing their tasks very well."

"Well they were built by pure genius…and you helped too of course."

"Oh Albert" Dr. Light said with a chuckle

"Just a little humor there.

"I can actually remember the brain storming sessions in the dorms. Some of our designs were pretty silly."

"Compared to completely logical choices like Top Man."

"Ok you got me there."

"Of course, I built Bubble Man. He couldn't even walk properly on land."

"Seriously?"

"Yep, it was quite funny in fact."

"I suppose one could find that funny."

"Oh lighten up a little"

"Lighten up, eh? Leave the puns to Cut Man."

Suddenly Rock's voice cut across Dr. Wily's reply "Dr. Light, Dr. Wily something terrible is going on!"

Both scientists looked around in shock as Rock came running into the workshop. "What's going on?" Dr. Wily asked

"It's all over the news. The new Robot Masters have gone crazy!"


	3. Seven RobotsPlus One

Chapter 3: Seven Robots…Plus One

"What?" Dr. Light said jumping up

"What do you mean by crazy?" Dr. Wily asked in alarm

"They're running wild in the city! Come see for yourself."

The two scientists rushed to follow Rock back into the house and to the TV. News footage was showing various images including damaged property, fires burning, and citizens running in fear. The camera cut to a reporter standing in the middle of a wide street so viewers could see plenty of the chaos going on behind them.

"Just a short time ago, this was a peaceful scene which has now become one of confusion. With no warning at all, robots began to run wild through the streets. It has been confirmed that these are the seven robot masters that were jointly designed and produced by Drs. Light and Wily. Before today, these robots were peacefully carrying such tasks as helping rebuild after the alien robot incident, mining for energy crystals known as refractors, and even exploring newly discovered asteroids similar to the one where Mega Man battled for the fate of the planet. Today they are obviously acting very differently. There have been no reports of casualties yet but who knows how long that will last."

She continued to talk as Roll hurried into the room carrying a cordless phone. "We're getting a lot of calls asking about this. "

"Oh like it's our fault" Dr. Wily said

"How is it not, at least in the eyes of the public?" Dr. Light countered "We built them, we programmed them so whatever this glitch is will be linked to us."

"It will be more likely linked to me" Dr. Wily miserably replied

"The coding was checked and double checked on all of them so the problem can't have originated with you."

"Who cares where the problem came from?" Rock passionately interrupted "We need to do something now and talk about it later."

As he said these words, his body began to morph. A blue light encompassed his clothing and grew skin tight. His lower legs and arms on the other hand thickened and grew bulkier. The light faded and Rock stood before them now clad in shades of blue armor. As if on cue, Rush came into the room with a blue helmet held carefully in his mouth. Rock placed this helmet on his head and completed the transition into Mega Man.

"I'm going out there to see what I can do to help."

"Be careful my boy."

"Don't worry Thomas, this kid is tough. I should know" Dr. Wily said sheepishly

Mega Man promised to be careful and then hurried out of the door with Rush at his side. The dog morphed into jet mode and Mega Man leapt onto his back. In short order they were sailing over the downtown area and surveying the damage with his own eyes. It seemed that the news may have exaggerated the carnage just a little but the danger was still real. As he lowered his altitude he noticed a large piece of masonry break free of a building. In the same second he realized that it was going to fall right onto a kid on the sidewalk. Mega Man shot the large stone and it shattered into gravel while the boy realized what was happening and threw his arms over his head.

As the dust settled Mega Man landed to check on the boy and discovered that it was his friend Bobby. "Oh my gosh, are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm good especially now that you're here."

"That's good. Are Joe and Lisa around? Do you know if they're safe?"

"They said they were headed to the mall."

"Ok, I'll go see if I can find them. You need to get to safety."

"But I want to go help you find the others."

"If you do that, then who's going to look after your family? They need someone like you to protect them."

"Yeah" he beamed as he turned to leave. Before he could get far, something odd happened. Bobby stumbled, spun around, and was sent flying. Fortunately he landed in a nearby bush but Mega Man still anxiously ran to his side.

"Dude, I'm ok" Bobby said "It takes more than that to rough me up."

"What was that?"

"It's a...top" Bobby said looking at the object that had tripped him

Indeed, an object similar to a child's top but over a foot in diameter was sitting on the sidewalk. A burst of laughter met their ears and made the boys look into the street. Standing on top of a parked car was a robot with an orange and black body with large eyes and a top instead of a helmet. "Oh man that was a great wipeout. I mean you were great as bait but that was priceless."

"Bait?" Mega Man asked angrily "What are you talking about Top Man?"

"Well" he said in a tone like he was explaining two plus two "I figured that if I followed your little friends then you'd show up sooner or later and you chose sooner."

"Why are you doing this? You and your brothers were built for peaceful purposes."

"Boring" he said with an eye roll "I'd rather have fun and what's more fun that mixing it up with you"

As he said this he touched the top on his head and it glowed. He then thrust his arm out towards Mega Man and Bobby and they were assaulted by a trio of spinning tops. Mega Man threw his arms around Bobby and jumped up while whistling. Before they could hit the ground again, Rush was under them and they were safely hovering in the air.

"Cheater" Top Man said as they hovered above him "Oh well, I'll get another chance later I'm sure. Hasta la bye bye!"

With that, Top Man leapt off of the car and used to the wheels in his feet to twirl several times upon landing. After that, he raced off down the street leaving Mega Man wondering what to do.

"Boring? Even the most advanced robots have program limitations; they shouldn't just change like this."

"You can figure that out later" Bobby said "Let's go be heroes!"

"You're getting to a safe spot as soon as I can find one" he said as they sailed towards the mall "Still nothing says we can't check on the others at the same time."

"Yep and it's more time I get to ride Rush! This is cool!"

Before Mega Man could say anything else, a long thin projectile sailed right in front of his nose. Mega Man told Rush to stop and they hovered in place while searching for the source of the missile. On a nearby roof stood a blue, squat robot without a face but rather his eyes set into his torso. His flat head was topped by three silver spikes, a large one in the middle with two smaller ones on the sides. Both of his arms ended in buster cannons and they were pointed at the little group of heroes.

"Needle Man, not you too."

"Watch the news kid, it's all of us."

"I was hoping it was some sort of trick."

"No tricks" a new voice said. A large robot built somewhat like a blue barrel was walking into view on a roof next to Needle Man's. Hard Man was a reliable, fair minded robot and thus his part in the riot really made Mega Man see what he was dealing with.

"Face it Mega Man" a voice from behind them called. Mega Man turned to see what appeared to be an orange spark plug with legs and arms that ended in long, silver spikes. Spark Man went on "It's time to play the old hero game again."

"This isn't a game! It's never been a game, people are in danger."

"A lot more people will be in danger if you don't play" Needle Man said "This is only a taste of what could happen."

"You better enjoy talking big while you can" Bobby said "Because he's going to kick all of your butts."

"I think it's best not to make them angry" Mega Man said

"Oh he'll get his chance to try" Spark Man said to Bobby "He just has to come for us."

With that the trio of robots took their leave just like Top Man had done earlier. Bobby put up his fists and said "Cowards! You should have dealt with them here and now." He began punching and jabbing the air as if he were fighting the robots and almost fell off of Rush.

"Let's just get to that mall and find Lisa and Joe" Mega Man said as he held a firm grip on Bobby "Hopefully your folks will be there as well."

On cue, Rush took off in the right direction. As they neared down town they passed more fires and other signs of robot damage. Bobby's enthusiastic expression sobered up during the flight and he said "This is awful."

"It's also only a fraction of what these robots could do if they really wanted to. It really is like a game to them."

Bobby didn't say anything else but he seemed thoughtful as they neared the mall. The building displayed some signs of damage but mostly minor things like broken windows. The boys landed and Rush turned back into a dog before the group ran inside. The place was filled with panicking people running about looking for loved ones or just trying to find a safe spot.

"One touched my leg!" a woman screamed near by

"Mine too!" a mall security guard exclaimed in equal fear

All around them people were complaining about similar phenomena. Rush was sniffing around in between the crowds nearby and suddenly barked aggressively. Mega Man ran to his side and glimpsed a green shiny snake slithering away. Assessing the situation and realizing that the people were simply being scared, not hurt, he turned his attention to looking for the robot behind this.

Realizing that most of the people were running away from the nearby food court, Mega Man ran upstream and began looking around. Unfortunately even his enhanced senses were having trouble picking anything up over the chaos around him. Pausing near a burger joint, Mega Man raised his voice and called out "I know you're there Snake Man, you might as well show yourself."

"Boo!" was the immediate reply as a green robot with a helmet similar to a snake, complete with tail, popped up from behind the counter with a creepy expression on his face. Mega Man screamed, stumbled, and fell to the floor. "Oh man, that'ssss hilarioussss."

"If you say so" Mega Man said as he climbed to his feet "So do we fight now or do you just fade away like the others?"

"The ssssecond I think. Thisss issss only the prologue, the introductory level you might say."

"This is pointless!"

"Our bosssss doesssn't think sssso."

"What boss?"

"That would be telling" a suave voice replied from several sides. Mega Man found himself standing between identical robots with dark blue bodies and crystal like armor on their legs, arms, and heads. The twin robots simultaneously said "He'll come out of the shadows when he feels like it."

"Is this supposed to be impressive Gemini Man? I know about your ability to make copies."

"I suppose when one has such fabulous abilities it's a crime to not employ them

"Can't you guys just tell me what you want? I'd like to end this peacefully but I'll give you a fight if you want it."

"That'ssss exactly what we want" Snake Man said as he jumped up and sat casually on the burger counter "We just don't want all of our preparationsss to go to wassste."

Mega Man was about to reply when a very familiar voice shrieked in the distance "Lisa!" He turned and started running but found he wasn't going anywhere. He looked over his shoulder to see that he was being pulled closer to yet another robot. His black body was contrasted with this red armor and his red ninja like mask with a horseshoe magnet on the forehead.

"And then there were seven" Magnet Man said as he dropped the magnetic field and caused an unprepared Mega Man to take off like a shot and tumble across the floor. He could hear the robots laughing behind him but he simply got up and ran towards where he had heard the scream.

It didn't take long to spot Bobby and Joe comforting a frightened Lisa in front of a large clothing store. "Oh Rock" she said as he approached "I'm so glad you're here. I was hiding in there but something turned the lights out and began to chase me. I didn't get a good look at it but rather I ran straight for the door where I ran into the boys."

"It's ok. I'm here now and I'll deal with it."

"Which one do you think it is?" Bobby asked

"I hope it's not that Snake Man one" Joe said 'I hate snakes"

"No Snake Man is in the food court. They mentioned a boss; if he's in there I think I'd like to meet him."

Mega Man entered the store with his buster at the ready. In the semi darkness of the shop, every shadow seemed distorted and creepy. Mega Man paused near a set of three shop dummies and circled on the spot with his senses tuned. He finished his rotation facing the twin mannequins again and continued walking. Something clicked in his head and he turned back to face the dummies.

"Weren't there three?"

"That was almost clever, hero" a soft voice replied from the darkness

Mega Man turned but didn't see anyone. He thought he recognized the voice but he couldn't place it. "Who are you?"

"How quickly we forget" the voice answered him now from a completely different part of the store. Something glinted in the semi-darkness and Mega Man turned to face that direction "I could continue this little game but I see little point." The lights came on and Mega Man found himself standing mere feet from a ninja themed robot with a shuriken on his forehead. "Do you remember me now? I remember our last meeting in the woods very well."

"You're the S Rank Kuiper Droid!"

"That is such a mouthful. I have been reborn with a new name. In the style of my new comrades, I am now called Shadow Man!"

"How can you be here?"

"I survived our encounter and sought help. The Master Unit was not alone in the cosmos, we have other allies. Once repairs and even some upgrades were completed, I returned to earth and decided to challenge you in the proper fashion."

"Then you're the one who made the others go crazy."

Shadow Man frowned and said "I caused no one to, as you say, go crazy. I merely liberated them from their narrow programming. I promised them many freedoms in exchange for helping me get my revenge on you. Come fight us upon the proper stage or today's demonstration will not be an isolated event."

With that he threw down a smoke bomb the completely obscured Mega Man's vision. He ran forward through the smoke but Shadow Man was already gone.


	4. The Invitation

**Hello again Faithful Readers. I do apologize for once again taking a while to upload. I meant to have this chapter out sooner but there's been some things going on that distracted me. Don't worry it's nothing too serious, just life. Also it seems that my brain is being oddly more sluggish on this story. I'll keep fighting through the writers block just as Mega Man will keep fighting for the world!**

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Chapter 4: The Invitation

` "Now that's quite a story" Dr. Light said after Mega Man had relayed the day's events.

"Indeed" Dr. Wily added "It seems that you're back to the old routine Rock."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh surely you've noticed by now that groups of robots tend to start acting wild and then you have to go deal with them one by one. It seems that this Shadow Man wants his new allies to follow that pattern."

"Yeah, it seems so silly when they could have just dog piled me in the city."

"Not really" Dr. Wily went on "They probably feel that by luring you away and isolating you, they'll have much better chances. "

"And who knows what other nasty tricks are in store" Roll chimed in. She turned from her place at the computer to properly address the group "I mean something repaired that ninja, what if there's more than just these robots to deal with?"

"A frightening yet fine point, Roll" Dr. Light replied "Who knows what enemies we may wind up facing this time."

"Then I think we should do our part as well, Thomas." Dr. Wily said "We need to work on finishing Gamma while Rock deals with this difficulty."

"That's a good idea" Mega Man said "If something like the Master Unit, or worse, I wouldn't mind having a giant robot backing me up."

"And what if something nasty is waiting for you before said giant robot is finished?" Dr. Light asked

"We may have to risk it" Dr. Wily said sadly "I hate to gamble with Rock's life like this but who knows when Shadow Man and his ilk will strike again. I think we're backed into a corner here and should simply consider ourselves lucky that we have an ace up our sleeves."

"He's right" Mega Man replied "Rush and I will try to deal with these robots while you guys finish up here

"Um, I just thought of something" Roll cut in "Where is he even going? What is 'the proper stage' Shadow Man mentioned?"

"That is a good question" Dr. Wily admitted

"I've been trying to find an answer actually" Roll said as she studied the computer screen "I've been looking for any unusual activity, sort of like how we tracked them when Dr. Wily…I mean when those robots originally attacked the city."

"And has your search turned up any clues?" Dr. Wily asked

"Well no clues but we do have a challenge. Hard Man has actually emailed us teleport coordinates."

"And what about the others?" Mega Man asked

"Nothing yet but I'm sure they're just waiting their turn."

"Possibly" Dr. Light said "Hard Man was always a rather fair minded robot. Some of the others had more…eccentric personalites."

"Well I'm ready to go. If they want me to play this role again, they had better be prepared."

"Be careful my boy" Dr. Light said

"He'll be fine" Roll said "He's got me here at mission control."

"In that case, I'm ready to roll…Roll."

"Funny" she said with a roll of her eyes as she prepped the teleport system.

Mega Man materialized moments later on a rocky path high in the mountains. As he surveyed his new surroundings he felt a peculiar sense of déjà vu. "Roll?"

"Yes Rock" she said through the radio

"This place seems familiar. Where am I?"

"It looks like the site where you fought Juno. It was one of the places we were excavating."

"Oh yeah, I remember this place. Let's hope things aren't as difficult this go around."

"Be careful that you don't jinx it. Anywho, you go see what's what and I'll be standing by as you need me."

"Sure thing Roll."

As soon as he said this, an odd buzzing reached his ears. He didn't see anything but kept his buster at the ready as he moved forward down the path. The buzzing grew louder as a large mechanical bee flew into sight carrying what seemed to be a hive. Mega Man tried to shoot the insect but it dodged his attack and dropped the hive. It broke apart when it hit the ground and released five smaller robot bees. These menaces swarmed while the original bee dive bombed him.

Dealing with the large one was easy; all it took was a couple of plasma shots before it could touch him. The smaller bugs were far more troublesome. Their quick and agile movements enabled them to dodge his plasma shots while still brushing up against him and giving a painful shock. He broke into a run intending to put some distance between him and the bees but another "mama bee" was flying into sight. With a grunt of frustration, he shot down the new menace and caught the hive as it fell. This apparently didn't apply enough force to cause it to break open and he sighed with relief.

The relief was short lived as the old swarm caught up to him and began attacking from all sides. He hastily sat down the inactive hive and continued trying to fire upon the bees. He managed to grab on and smash it against a nearby rock. He turned and managed to catch one with a plasma shot while the remaining three swarmed around him. Flailing his hands wildly to keep them away he noticed more large bees coming from behind him.

"Talk about a pest problem" he said as he broke into a run. The bees didn't do a lot of damage but he knew it could accumulate if it he let it. He stopped and turned around to face the growing swarm. He took a run up and slid under the swarm shooting like mad all the time. He emerged on the other side with over half of the bees falling uselessly to the ground. He then turned and started picking off the rest of the bees while they were trying to regroup.

"Ok, I really didn't expect that to work. I guess desperation is indeed a beautiful thing."

Deciding to get out of there before more bees showed up, Mega Man started moving forward at a pretty good pace. He soon saw the ravine ahead of him and stopped at the edge to look around. He received a huge shock when a green metal pincer burst out of the gravel covering the ground. Mega Man tried to move aside but his leg was firmly trapped between the arms.

He barely had time to think before a massive electric shock coursed through his body. Mega Man screamed and squirmed but he simply couldn't break free. Fighting to regain control over his stiff and twitching body, he aimed his buster straight down and fired. The hidden machine controlling the arms exploded and sent Mega Man flying over the edge of the ravine. Barely having time to think, Mega Man instinctively grasped for rocks and found himself sliding down the wall of the chasm. He suddenly jerked to a halt as his hands found purchase on a solid outcropping of rock.

"Wow! That was crazy."

He glanced down and saw that he was only a few yards above the entrance to one of the caves they had been exploring. Very carefully, Mega Man climbed down and dropped onto the ledge in front of the mine shaft. He heard noises from inside and decided to check things out. Only half of the lights were on creating deep shadows ahead of him. He paused as he heard a couple of heavy steps somewhere ahead of him in the tunnel as well as an odd swishing sound like a large fan blade.

Before he could ponder this anymore, a heavy black ball on a chain came whirling through the air towards him and Mega Man was painfully clipped as he flattened his body against a wall. He saw a bulky green robot stepping into the light swinging another ball above its head. Mega Man fired on it but his plasma had no affect on the armored body. The robot adjusted its aim and released the projectile. As with the bees, Mega Man hit the dirt and slid under the whirling ball and found himself dangerously close to the robot. It materialized another ball and chain but Mega Man was once again peppering it with plasma. A lucky shot hit the robot in the eye causing it to flinch. Mega Man waited for his chance and fired upon the eye again as soon as the robot reopened it. This new attack finished it and it toppled to the ground.

"For someone who invited me here, Hard Man doesn't seem to want me to reach him" Mega Man mused as he continued down the tunnel. "Then again, this is usually how things work so why question it?"

The tunnel was growing larger and the shadows were growing darker. Mega Man heard movement to his right and swung his buster around to face the shadows. He could definitely make out something moving in the darkness and fired his buster, partially just to light things up. As he did something large leapt into the air and landed heavily behind him. Before he could do anything, Mega Man was struck hard in the back and he tumbled across the rocky floor.

He righted himself and turned to face his attacker but it had already leapt again. He felt the shove again but this time managed to stay on his feet. Looking quickly over his shoulder he saw a robot monkey, slightly taller than him, pounding its chest in victory. Mega Man spun around while firing and managed to clip the simian foe as it jumped again. This time it grabbed one of the mine's support beams and hung from the ceiling. Mega Man was just taking aim when it dropped down right on top of him and began trying to wrestle with him.

"Get off you big ape!" Mega Man grunted as he struggled to free himself. After a moment or two of wrestling, he found his buster near the monkey's head and he fired. The head was destroyed and the remaining body went limp. "Brutal but effective."

He continued his trek and glimpsed another monkey hanging from the ceiling ahead of him. "Oh no you don't" Mega Man said as he took careful aim and sniped it down. Stepping over the remains he moved down the tunnel quickly yet cautiously.

After dealing with a few more monkey's through patience and careful aim, Mega Man came to a crossroads in the tunnels. Ahead of him he could see the chamber where the refractor and the other instruments of the asteroid guardians had been. He glanced around this room and saw nothing of interest. He stepped back into crossroads and almost had his head taken off by another ball and chain. He turned to fire upon the robot who threw it but he suddenly was struck from behind by another ball.

"A two pronged attack huh. This could be a bit tricky."

He jumped to the side as the robots attacked at the same time. The balls clashed together in mid air resulting in echoes that shook the whole tunnel slightly. Mega Man fired at the eye of one of the robots and it recoiled. He then hit the deck in order to avoid an attack from the other robot. Mega Man was pleasantly surprised to see the heavy projectile fly right over him and smack the other robot directly in the eye. It toppled and now there was only one robot to deal with.

"Ok, maybe not so tricky" he said as he popped up and fired upon his foe. His timing was slightly off and his foe closed its eye and hurled the weapon. Mega Man slid under and his plasma shots finally found their mark.

"Now I just figure out which way to go. Hey Roll" he said as he activated the radio

"Hey Rock, how's it going?"

"Like usual, I'm getting beat up by all kinds of random things before I get to the real fight. Anyway, we have a map of these mines in the computer right?"

"Yep."

"I'm near the refractor chamber; are there any other large rooms or anything that look like they could be battle grounds?"

"Cheater" she teased "then again I'd hate to just wander around underground with no idea where to go. Ok assuming you're facing the refractor room, the path on the right looks more promising. Unless Hard Man has renovated the place, left seems to just be a series of smaller tunnels leading eventually to dead ends."

"Right it is then. Thanks Roll."

"Sure thing Rock."

Mega Man started down this path with his eyes open for any new problems or obstacles. The lights in this new tunnel were very dim and it was becoming very hard to see what was in front of him. He switched his eyes to night vision at the same time he noticed an odd metallic sound from the floor. He looked down just in time to have one of his legs get trapped by another set of electric pincers. As he reacted in pain he glanced ahead to see the tunnel was carpeted with these annoying floor traps.

As if that wasn't enough he heard a strange rumbling behind him. He turned his head to see a bulldozer driven by a Met driving toward him. "Just great" Mega Man muttered as he quickly assessed the situation. Wanting to avoid another explosion, Mega Man instead reached down and pulled upon the arms trapping him. He managed to get the arms wide enough apart to free his leg and he jumped back. This put him even closer to the bulldozer and he had seconds to act.

"Here goes nothing" Mega Man said as he began to run across the trap machines. The arms popped up as he passed and a few times he felt them nip at his feet. He heard the sounds of the dozer's treads change and glance over the shoulder revealed that it was now chasing him over the traps. This look backwards caused him to misstep and his foot was trapped by the metal arms. He was now standing on the edge of two of the traps while his left leg was trapped in the air.

"Well this is dignified" he said as he squirmed and twisted. Just before the bulldozer caught up, he wrenched his foot free and stumbled forward. He somehow managed to stay upright and continued running. His frustration grew more intense when we spied the end of the tunnel and the door that was closing over it. He put on another burst of speed and slid under the door just before it closed.

His eyes were assaulted by intense brightness as he skidded to a halt. He turned off night vision and observed the large well lit cavern he was now in. There were other tunnels branching off if this chamber but they too were sealed. Mega Man climbed to his feet and looked around for Hard Man.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

His answer came in the form of a robot materializing in a red flash that was oddly followed by a musical tune being whistled. This robot was the same height as Mega Man with grey body with red armor on his lower legs and arms. One of the arms clutched a large white shield with a red rim and a small thin window near the top, obviously meant for maintaining visibility when the shield was in use. The robot's head and face were concealed by a red helmet with a black visor and white highlights.

"Who are you?" a stunned Mega Man asked

The robot remained silent as it seemed to stare at him from behind the visor. The hand not holding a shield morphed into a buster and he aimed it directly at Mega Man's head.


	5. Clash in the Cavern

Clash in the Cavern

Mega Man took a step back and struck a defensive pose. "Whoa there buddy, I just asked what your name is. No need to get violent."

The robot chuckled slightly and fired. Mega Man slid under the assault and fired back. The robot held up his shield and Mega Man's plasma simply bounced off of it. He jumped over Mega Man's next attack and fired from the air. Mega Man was struck in the chest and fell to the ground. As Mega Man started to get up, a plasma shot barely missed his shoulder and he saw the mysterious robot walking toward him. Mega Man fired but once again the robot held up his shield.

Mega Man took this opportunity to get back on his feet and address the robot again. "Look, fighting really isn't my favorite thing. I don't even know who you are."

This seemed to agitate the robot. He growled and fired a barrage of plasma. Mega Man was dancing around trying to dodge storm of lethal energy. "Ok dude, what have I done to offend you?"

The robot ended the plasma assault and ran towards Mega Man holding his shield like a battering ram. Mega Man quickly jumped to the side and stuck his leg out. The robot couldn't adjust course in time and was sent sprawling over the floor and ultimately crashing into the wall of the cavern.

"Ugh" the mysterious robots said "Did you just trip me?"

"Ah so you can talk. I was starting to think that you were simply a new type of Sniper Joe."

The robot responded by blasting Mega Man in the chest again. This time the blue hero managed to stay on his feet and he fired back. The robot rolled to the side to avoid the attack and began climbing to his feet. Before he could fully stand up, Mega Man shot him in the back and he was thrown back to the ground. The robot rolled over and fired like mad. Mega Man was forced to withdraw and back away so as to not be ripped apart.

The robot kept firing while he stood up and began walking towards Mega Man. "Do you honestly not have any idea who I am?"

"How can I if you won't tell me?"

The robot simply growled and increased his fire power. Mega Man tried to return fire while dodging but the enemy robot kept blocking with his shield. Mega Man decided to try a new tactic and tried firing under the shield at the robot's feet. This caused him to stumble and fall to his knees. Mega Man then started firing upon him but he was again hiding behind the shield.

Mega Man ran in a circle around the robot and attacked from behind. After taking a couple of shots to the back, the robot managed to turn around and return fire. Mega Man jumped to the side as the robot sprang to his feet. Mega Man fired at him but the robot jumped over Mega Man's shot and this time actually did ram him with the shield. Mega Man hit the ground and rolled to the side to avoid another plasma shot. Another blast from the robot's buster barely missed Mega Man causing him to have to roll the other way.

"Well this is fun" The robot said as Mega Man continued to roll around to avoid being shot

"How about now?" Mega Man asked as he shot the laughing robot in the face. The robot screamed in frustration while Mega Man got to his feet. However, the robot blasted Mega Man in the chest and caused him to fall back to the ground. He then pinned Mega Man with his foot and pointed his own buster in Mega Man's face.

"In case you didn't notice, hero, my helmet doesn't leave my face exposed like some robots I know."

"That's enough Break Man" a new voice echoed throughout the room. Hard Man was walking across the cavern with a stern expression on his face.

"What? I haven't finished him off."

"You said you wanted to fight him and I allowed it. Destroying him, however, is not your job."

"How about no one destroys me?" Mega Man said

Break Man glanced down at him and said "You know what? You can have him Hard Man."

"Thank you."

"I suppose he could stand to be toughed up a bit by fighting you guys. Then I'd get a real fight."

Break Man then stepped off of Mega Man and vanished in a flash of red teleport energy. Hard Man sighed and said "He's certainly an odd one."

"Who is he?" Mega Man said as he stood up

"That's not my place to say. Here drink this" Hard Man said tossing Mega Man an E-Tank.

"What?"

"I want this to be a fair fight."

"Hard Man we don't have to fight at all…" Mega Man yelped as Hard Man punched the air and his fist detached. It soared within inches of Mega Man's head and then returned to Hard Man's arm.

"Woah, could you always do that or is that a new trick?"

Hard Man adusted his aim so that his fist now pointed right at Mega Man's face. "I suggest you drink that."

"Fine" Mega Man said in a frustrated voice as he chugged the contents of the can. His system flooded with energy and he primed his buster. "Let's do it then."

Rather than firing again, Hard Man jumped into the air. A rocket system on the bottom of his armored body carried him high into the air and Mega Man had to run away to avoid being crushed. Hard Man slammed to the ground with a crash that shook the ground. Mega Man was thrown off of his feet and landed face first.

"Wow"

"Bit early to be impressed Mega Man. This has only just begun."

Mega Man was getting back up when he was knocked back down by Hard Man's fist. Mega Man climbed to his knees when he was hit again by the fist on the return trip. Mega Man landed sprawled across the ground facing Hard Man. He immediately raised his buster and fired upon the robot master. The plasma shook Hard Man slightly but he seemed unfazed.

He grinned and jumped again causing Mega Man to crawl away as swiftly as he could. His enemy once again rocked the cavern and Mega Man had to brace himself to keep from collapsing to the floor. He quickly stood up, turned, and began firing. Again, his shots dealt very little damage and mostly simply bounced off of Hard Man's armored body.

"Maybe this isn't so far after all" Hard Man commented. As he was speaking, one of the plasma shots hit him square in the face and he flinched "Ok, that one actually stung a little."

Mega Man concentrated his fire upon the head but Hard Man help up one of his arms as a shield. He extended the other arm and fired his fist again. Mega Man wasn't prepared for this and screamed as it slammed directly into his chest. The force carried him several feet backwards before he ultimately lost his balance.

He landed on his back and was momentarily stunned. His wits returned in time to see Hard Man soaring into view above him and he rolled quickly to the side. The tremors caused him to bounce several times before landing with his face in the dirt. He lifted himself onto his hands and knees as Hard Man began walking towards him. Mega Man began shooting as his face again but Hard Man simply raised his arms in defense.

"I had hoped for more of a challenge."

"If you like I can go and get some upgrades before continuing" Mega Man joked as he climbed to his feet.

"Once I begin a job, I like to see it through to the end."

Hard Man fired his fist again and Mega Man slid under it while firing like mad. Some of the blasts hit Hard Man's face and others went in the socket that had fired his hand. Mega Man quickly moved to avoid the fist on the return trip and was now standing quite near his foe. Hard Man tried a conventional punch but Mega Man side stepped it and touched his outstretched arm. Hard Man wrenched free of Mega Man's grip but the blue hero had already absorbed the weapon data.

"Now how am I measuring up?"

"Not bad Mega Man, not bad. This will still be my victory."

He leapt into the air again and immediately slammed down. Mega Man had only a second to move and was sent flying by the tremors. Mega Man rolled onto his back and again saw Hard Man coming into view above him. He rolled forward into a crawling position and braced against the crash. Once the tremors started to subside he stood up and faced Hard Man. He aimed his buster and the energy quickly formed into a fist that smashed into Hard Man's body. The robot master staggered backwards and grunted in pain.

"That packs a bit more punch than the regular buster. Get it, punch?"

"Leave the puns to Cut Man" Hard Man responded.

"What do you call this attack anyway?"

"Hard Knuckle" he responded as he smashed an off guard Mega Man with said attack.

Mega Man crumpled in pain while Hard Man began stomping toward him. Mega Man sat up and fired a Hard Knuckle of his own. Hard Man was impeded long enough for Mega Man to get up and put some distance between them. He turned around and ducked as another fist flew over his head. He fired yet another of his own in retaliation and the less agile Hard Man was unable to dodge. Mega Man straightened up to attack again but was hit in the back of the head by the enemy Hard Knuckle on the rebound. He fell flat on his face and grunted in frustration.

"I seem to be spending a lot of today on the ground."

"Maybe you should just stay down" Hard Man said before again trying to smash Mega Man from above. Mega Man had already sprung to his feet and prepping another Hard Knuckle. He fired as Hard Man came down and his foe was knocked off course and sent rolling across the ground. Mega Man peppered Hard Man with plasma shots while he struggled to get up. The robot master growled and fired his own fist again.

Mega Man gasped in surprise and actually grabbed the projectile on instinct. It took all of his strength but he managed to halt the fists flight. He slid backwards while its rocket continued to burn but finally the fist fizzled out a few inches from his face. Suddenly a strong magnetic force pulled the fist out of his hands and it reattached to Hard Man's arm. Hard Man stood up and took a few wobbly steps.

"You are skilled Mega Man. I didn't expect things to go quite like this."

"You're not bad yourself."

"Thank you but flattery won't get you anywhere."

He put on a burst of speed and quickly bridged the gap between them. Mega Man prepared to fire but was cut off by a punch to the face. The force sent Mega Man staggering backwards but he awkwardly managed to keep his footing. He returned the favor with a long range punch to Hard Man's face. Hard Man screamed and sparks flew from his neck. He then leapt into the air once again but Mega Man was already on the move. Hard Man landed in time to get another Hard Knuckle square in the back.

"Who knew your own attack would cause so much damage. Maybe it's knocking something loose inside that armored body."

Hard Man growled and turned on the spot to fire his own fist at Mega Man. The blue hero slid under the projectile firing plasma shots all the way. Hard Man grunted as the energy struck his damaged body while Mega Man stood up and quickly stepped out of the way of the returning fist. Hard Man jumped up and immediately slammed back down as Mega Man was preparing another Hard Knuckle. The force of Hard Man's landing knocked Mega Man over and the Knuckle was fired right into one of the robot master's legs. Hard Man screamed as the damaged limb snapped under his weight and the robot toppled. He struggled to stand back up but couldn't find his balance on the remaining leg.

"I guess this is over" Mega Man said as he walked over toward his fallen foe.

"I already told you that I see everything through to the end" Hard Man said as he fired another Hard Knuckle. Mega Man was again knocked to the ground but he quickly popped up and fired back. The suffering Hard Man didn't last long under Mega Man's assault and he lay motionless upon the cavern floor.

"Good match Hard Man, maybe we'll have another, more friendly, fight once you're repaired. Now to get out of here before something else odd happens."


	6. Double Trouble

**I really don't know why this story is giving me so much trouble. Oh well, for your patience here's a slightly longer chapter**

* * *

Chapter 6: Double Trouble

"The damage wasn't too bad all things considered" Dr. Light said as he put the final touches on patching Mega Man up

"Indeed" Dr. Wily said from the computer "Hard Man could have been a tricky customer but you once again proved to be a truly superior robot."

"Thanks" Mega Man said as he sat up and hopped off the lab table "I hope things continue to go this well."

"Of course they will" Roll said enthusiastically "You're Mega Man!"

"It's just a name" he said with an embarrassed but pleased smile "By the way, Dr. Light, Dr. Wily, have either of you ever heard of a robot called Break Man?"

"Break Man?" Dr. Light repeated with a puzzled look "No."

"Doesn't ring any bells" Dr. Wily said

"Well he showed up out of nowhere and attacked me. He seems like a bit of a weirdo, definite anger management issues."

"He's probably in league with whoever is behind all of this" Dr. Wily said "Let's hope no more nasty surprises are waiting in store but that's probably optimism to the point of foolishness."

"We'll worry about any surprises when we come to them" Dr. Light said

"Good attitude Thomas" Dr. Wily replied. He turned back to the computer and said "Oh, it looks like we have a lead."

"Oh?" Mega Man said

"There have been reports of odd activity and robot sightings around this old factory complex" he said as he pointed to a spot on the map

"Ok, I'll go there and check it out."

Everyone wished him luck and Dr. Wily fired up the teleport system. Mega Man soon found himself at the gates of a remote industrial complex. Buster at the ready, he walked down the main path looking everywhere for traps or enemies. Something rustled in the overgrown grass nearby and he turned to face it. At this moment something moved in the grass directly behind him and he turned to deal with that.

As he was turning something struck him in the back and knocked him onto the path. He could feel something heavy and large sitting on him and tried to throw it off. As he was squirming, he saw what appeared to a large mechanical frog with one eye leap out of the grass. It soared clean over the one on his back and landed on his legs. He struggled for a few seconds to get them off before they jumped off on their own. Mega Man's confusion lasted only for a second before he screamed as electricity coursed through him.

It ended as quickly as it began and he immediately heard the frogs moving around in the grass again. He rolled to the side and got to his feet as the frogs jumped into the path again. Mega Man tried to shoot at them but they hopped away again. He then noticed the source of the electricity; a couple of devices at the edges of the path were swiftly returning to him with a stream of energy coursing between them. Mega Man jumped over this and ran towards the main factory building.

As he was running, he was suddenly struck in the side by a ball of plasma. He stumbled and quickly climbed up on one knee. He looked to the side and saw some mets hoping towards him while the one eyed frogs and the electric beam approached from behind. He dealt with the beam by getting off of the path and he quickly put his buster to use on the other problems. This was not as easy as it might seem as the mets kept hiding under their helmets and the frogs would hop over the plasma shots. Soon enough however he had cleared the enemies away and was on the move again.

"Well this is fun so far" he sarcastically mused as he ran beside the path and approached the main entrance "I wonder what party is waiting for me inside."

The entrance hall was long and dimly lit. He walked down it swiftly but cautiously. He heard something move ahead of him. He prepared to face whatever was coming but he didn't see anything. Something struck him hard in the legs and he wound up sprawled on the floor. He looked up to see a top spinning towards him and he had to flatten against the wall to avoid it. He stood up and jumped over the next top. He soon came close to a large, squat orange robot with another top already geared up in its belly. The robot released it and Mega Man tried to jump over it but it was faster than expected. He caught his foot and tumbled across the floor.

"Ow" he said as he landed face first and then flopped onto his stomach. He instantly had to roll flat against the wall again as another top zoomed past. From this position, scrunched against the wall, Mega Man unloaded a rain of plasma on the robot. In short order, it collapsed into a sparking heap.

"I'm starting to guess that Top Man lives here" Mega Man says as he continued down the corridor.

Most of the side passages were blocked off and he was soon on the main factory floor. Conveyor belts, large machines, and high catwalks filled the large space. He began his journey across the room and received a jolt of electricity throughout his whole body. He looked around in surprise trying to pinpoint the source of the attack. As he was searching, he felt another bolt of energy strike him from above. He looked up to see several floating robots shaped like electrical plugs. They were hovering over him almost like they were orbiting and were visibly building another charge.

"Ok, that doesn't seem very Top Man" Mega Man said as he ran out of the way of the flying balls of electricity.

He tried to fire upon the flying plugs but they floated out of the way. More balls of energy sailed towards him and he danced on the spot to avoid the assault. One plug swooped at him and he jumped up onto a nearby conveyor belt. The belt began to move and Mega Man was carried right into the path of one of the glowing plugs. His body jerked as energy surged through it but he was able to get a point blank shot. The sparking machine fell to the ground as wrecked heap and he turned his attention to the others.

He ducked to avoid another bolt of electricity and noticed that he was swiftly approaching the end of the line. The wall of spikes he was fast approaching did not look friendly and he instinctively jumped back. He landed on what he thought was the floor and was surprised to start spinning on the spot. He then began to rise into the air toward a spike covered ceiling high above. He looked down to see that he was being supported by a circular platform that continued to spin as it ascended. As he was trying to decide what to do, he saw another spinning platform (now he could see that it was shaped like a top) coming down out of a hole in the ceiling. As soon as he turned to face this other platform, he took a flying leap and landed sprawled across it.

As he tried to stand up on the whirling surface he received another shock from the plugs that were still stalking him. He also noticed more spinning tops, some rising and some falling, beginning to fill the air. Figuring that they had to lead him somewhere and that it was best to keep moving, he jumped as soon as another top came into view. He almost missed but managed to grab hold of the edge of the rising top. The centrifugal force of the whirling platform caused Mega Man to lose his grip within seconds and be flung across the room.

He landed on another conveyor belt which fortunately carried him out of the way of yet another volley of sparks. The plugs were still following him and revving up for another attack. Mega Man filled the air with plasma and managed to fell another plug leaving only one left. Unfortunately this remaining one managed to strike him as Mega Man was dealing with its partner. He jumped backwards off the conveyer belt and was happy to feel solid ground beneath his feet. He took a step backwards and felt something click under his foot.

"Uh oh" Mega Man said just before a trap door opened and he plummeted into a dark pit. The fall went on longer than expected but Mega Man still managed to land on his feet…right before stumbling to the ground. "Ok not one of my better landings. Now where I am I?"

He had landed in a bare corridor and there seemed nothing to do but to start walking. He soon came to a dead end as a wall slammed down a short way behind him. As he was trying to figure out what to do, he heard movement above. As he was processing this fact, yet another electric shock coursed through his body. It stopped within seconds and Mega Man looked to his left to see a beam of energy moving away from him. As he was looking at this beam it flickered off but machine that had fired the beam was still moving along the ceiling. It simultaneously turned back on the beam and started moving back in his direction.

As Mega Man was preparing to dodge the beam, he was distracted by a loud meow. He looked up on a ledge above the corridor and saw a large cat shaped robot. It meowed again as a large ball resembling a ball of yarn erupted from its mouth. Mega Man jumped aside as the ball flew directly at him and he landed right in the path of the beam. He screamed but the beam moved on and he was given a reprieve. It only lasted a second though because the ball had bounced off the wall and now struck him in the back. Mega Man stumbled forward and slammed into the wall.

"I don't think I like cats very much" he said as he heard a meow and a second ball appeared "Oh no thank you, I still haven't finished with the first one."

The joke did nothing to actually change the situation and so Mega Man hopped backwards as one of the balls soared toward his knees. The electrical beam was approaching again and so he moved down the corridor waiting for it to turn off. As soon as it did, he rushed under beam projector and almost tripped over one of the bouncing yarn balls. Another one was sailing at his head and caused it to pop like a balloon with his buster. He then ran to the far end of the corridor and turned around.

"Ok, that's better" he said as the other ball bounced towards him and he shot it just like the first. As he did that the cat gave another loud meow and spat out another couple of balls. "Ok I see how this is going to be"

He ran forward to catch the bean in another off moment and jumped over one of the bouncing balls. Momentarily free of obstacles, he turned to face the cat and began to shoot it. He saw a ball bouncing its way towards him and he slid under while firing upwards and destroying it. He pressed himself against the wall to avoid the beam and unleashed more plasma on his damaged feline foe. It spat yet another yarn ball directly at him and Mega Man ducked down to allow it to ricochet off the wall above his head. He stood back up and continued firing. It succumbed to the hail of plasma went up in a blaze.

"Ha you weren't so tough" Mega Man said as he finished off the remaining yarn ball. He then fired on the beam generator and finished off the corridors defenses. The dead end wall slid upwards and Mega Man continued his trek.

He soon arrived in what seemed to be a large storage basement. There were large crates piled up in various places but still with plenty of open space. As he walked across the room, a large top hit the floor and sped toward him. He jumped over it but found even more spinning towards him. He dodged around while trying to avoid the tops but was suddenly hit from behind by a massive electric shock. This caused him to lose his concentration and get slammed by a top. As he toppled to the ground, he heard laughter above him.

"Man you sure are funny sometimes Rock" Top Man said "Especially when tumbling like a rag doll."

"It's shocking to see the great hero in such a state" Spark Man said

"Dude, the puns from cut man are already bad enough."

"Well it isn't really a pun since my name isn't Shock Man."

"A double attack?" Mega Man said as he stood up "This is new"

"I thought you might have already figured it out from the fun house we built for you" Top Man said as he casually reclined on the crate he was sitting on "Then again it wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be."

"The spinning platforms were funny" Spark Man said from atop a crate on Mega Man's other side

"He didn't even make it all the way across. He took the underground path instead. We decided to just handle things ourselves after you beat up our pet."

"I got this one bro" Spark Man said as he touched his arms to his sparkplug like head and began firing balls of electricity towards Mega Man. Mega Man jumped back but hit the crate behind him and was hit right in the chest. Above him Top Man was in hysterics as Mega Man screamed and twitched.

"You are fun Rock. Too bad we have to destroy you."

"You don't…oh forget it"

"Better stop muttering and get back to dodging" Mega Man screamed as another ball of electricity hit him "Oh too late"

Mega Man recovered quickly and fired upwards. Top Man dodged the plasma shot by flipping backwards and out of sight. Mega Man returned his focus to the present problem and slid underneath the onslaught of energy. He popped up beneath Spark Man who wasn't as quick at adjusting as his friend was and took a shot of plasma in the face.

"Ouch. You'll pay for that."

Mega Man however didn't give Spark Man the chance to retaliate. He unleashed a hail of plasma that had the robot master dancing on the spot to avoid pain. Suddenly Mega Man was slammed from the side by a heavy force that caused him to spin for a second and then be flung in random direction. Mega Man bounced across the floor and skidded to a stop in an open space. He had climbed to a kneeling position when he saw Top Man whirling like a tornado and heading right toward him. Mega Man was again slammed by his body and flung across the floor while Top Man skidded to a halt in a disco pose.

"And that's the way, uh uh, I like it."

"Oh boy, disco?"

"Not just that, I'm a regular renaissance robot." He put his arms over his head and gracefully but swiftly twirled towards Mega Man. One foot shot out and he kicked the hero in the face before coming to a stop and asking "Who says ballet is unmanly?"

"Wow" Mega Man said as he stood up and felt his nose "Never has the term dance battle been more literal."

Suddenly he felt a surge of electricity rip through his body and he heard Spark Man saying "What's a party without a little creative…lighting!" Mega Man just barely managed to avoid another volley of sparks. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Top Man zip to Spark Man's side and when he turned to face them both robots were grinning.

"I think our guest of honor would like some party favors" Top Man said

"Let's make them extra fun" Spark Man agreed

They generated their attacks in perfect sync and Mega Man gasped to see electrified tops speeding towards him. He was up against a wall of crates and had to act quickly. He ran forward trying to dash through a gap between the tops but his legs brushed one and received a shock. This caused him to stumble but he managed to stay on his feet.

"Ah didn't you like our party favors?" Top Man asked sarcastically

"I suppose they were alright. Do you like mine?" he fired off a couple of Hard Knuckles which slammed into the enemy robots. Spark Man grunted while Top Man screamed.

"Dude, are you alright?" Spark Man asked his friend

"That really hurts."

They couldn't say anymore because Mega Man was firing upon them with his buster. Top Man regained his composure and spun away from the assault while Spark Man was slower to move. He winced as his body was wrecked by the plasma but he managed to get his arms to his head and begin to charge up.

"It's time to crank things up to 11. Ultra Spark Shock" he said as he unleashed a massive ball of electricity. Mega Man was in agony as his body was engulfed in the deadly energy. He dropped to his knees and was instantly knocked to the floor by another whirling body slam courtesy of Top Man.

"Face it hero" he said as he twirled to a stop "You can't beat our teamwork."

"I don't know Top" Spark Man said "I think he needs another lesson."

He gently touched Top Man with one of his arms and supercharged his friend. Top Man's eyes as well as his grin grew wide. He whirled towards Mega Man at super speed and grabbed him by the wrists. Top Man's centrifugal force was so powerful; Mega Man was lifted from the ground. Top Man grinned manically before flinging his foe into a metal crate. Mega Man hit it hard enough to leave a large dent and he flopped to the floor.

"Man that was awesome" Top Man exclaimed before taking another Hard Knuckle slammed into him, this time leaving a sizeable dent.

"I'm not done yet" Mega Man said as he climbed to his feet and fired another fist. Top Man managed to side step this one causing an unprepared Spark Man to get slammed by it.

"Dude!"

"You shouldn't have been just standing there" Top Man exclaimed in frustration

"Oh don't start arguing" Mega Man said in falsely sympathetic voice "You'll mess up that teamwork"

"Shut it you little…" Top Man never got to finish that sentence as another Hard Knuckle struck him in the face and knocked his head back at an odd angle. Sparks flew from his neck and he staggered around on the spot. One final knuckle to the stomach seemed more than he could handle and he collapsed to the ground."

"No!" Spark Man shouted as he rushed to Top Man's side. Top Man twitched a few times and then lay still. Spark Man glared at Mega Man with glowing eyes "You're dead!"

He screamed in rage and began firing like mad. These sparks were very powerful but were flying all over the place. Mega Man slid under the assault and used his buster to strike back without even getting up. Spark Man simply took the damage and ran towards Mega Man. He stabbed downwards with both arms and electrocuted Mega Man directly.

"Take that hero! Maybe I should go kill your friends and show you how it feels!"

The threat only served to refocus Mega Man and he fired point blank upon Spark Man. The robot master winced and staggered backwards. Mega Man touched his leg and began absorbing weapon data. Spark Man realized what he was doing and kicked him hard enough to send him rolling across the floor. He stopped near Top Man and decided to see what he could copy from him.

"Get away from him" Spark Man shouted as he rained down more sparks. Mega Man managed to crawl out of the way and get to his feet.

"Let's see what I managed to pick up" Mega Man concentrated on Top Man's data and whirled on the spot. "Ah, I got the spinning."

"Stop bad mouthing my friend" Spark Man said as he began revving up for another ultra spark shock. Mega Man wasn't going to give him the chance and whirled into him knocking him over.

"You're right, it is useful" He pointed his buster down at Spark Man and fired. The robot was jolted by the attack but didn't get back up. Mega Man waited a moment but it seemed the party was over.


	7. A Prickly Situation

Chapter 7: A Prickly Situation

Mega Man examined his surroundings with the usual caution but all seemed normal. He could hear the lapping of the waves, the cry of seagulls, and the rippling of worn sails in the wind. He had materialized in a nearly abandoned harbor next to a mixture of ships both old and new. The area in front of him was a labyrinth of crates and long metal shipping containers but nothing seemed particularly sinister, just messy.

"Why does everyone make me go through this song and dance" Mega Man mused to himself "Why can't they just come out and fight me? Wood Man did…sort of."

He was broken out of his thoughts by a sound to the left. He turned but was instantly bowled over by a large round object that collided into him. Mega Man sat up and watched as the ball unrolled into a robotic animal, quickly revealed to be a porcupine when it sprouted sharp quills. It turned slightly so that its side faced Mega Man and it unleashed a shower of quills. Mega Man covered his face with his arms but he could still feel the stinging projectiles all over his body.

The assault stopped and Mega Man turned his buster on the porcupine but it was already rolling towards him again. His shots bounced off of its rapidly rotating body and it slammed into him, this time actually running him over. Mega Man rolled over and got quickly to his feet but the spiny enemy was already launching more quills. Mega Man ran in a circle around the porcupine while firing on it. He ended up in between two long shipping containers and was nearly impaled as a long spike suddenly protruded from its side. As Mega Man was backing away from this, he was grazed from behind by another spike from the container on the other side.

He was momentarily trapped between the spikes but they quickly began to retract. However the porcupine was rolling towards him again and Mega Man barely managed to jump over it. He turned and began firing upon it immediately and it was soon out of commission. Mega Man took a step forward but the spikes erupted from the sides of the containers again, this time in greater numbers and at various heights. Mega Man was patiently able to reach another open space by a combination of sliding and walking with careful timing.

"Maybe there's a reason some humans are afraid of needles" Mega Man said. As he was trying to figure out what to do next, the ground shook slightly and a loud thump met his ears. This was repeated a couple of times before a huge robot came bouncing over the wall of crates nearby. It was a round, red body on two powerful legs and a visor in the front. As it landed, the legs retracted into the body and the visor rose to reveal a pair of eyes. "Ok, I wasn't expecting that."

The robot jumped again and Mega Man had to slide to avoid being crushed. He stood up and began firing as it hopped and turned on the spot. His shots had no effect until one managed to hit its eye and it seemed to flinch. It was already jumping again and Mega Man was less prepared this time. He tried to run but was knocked down by the shockwave of the robot's landing. He rolled over and began firing but he missed the eyes and it was in the air again. Mega Man frantically flipped over and began crawling at high speed to escape. The beast landed quite near to him and Mega Man was jostled badly by the shaking ground.

He jumped up and slid under the robot as it hopped in place trying to crush him. He ran to the middle of the clearing and waited until it had turned around and was jumping towards him again. He immediately ran backwards while the robot landed where Mega Man had originally been standing. He fired upon the eyes and managed a few decent shots before the robot was in the air again. Mega Man ran to the side to avoid being crushed and stopped near a shipping container. He gasped as a spike erupted from the metal side and passed right under his arm.

"That was close" Mega Man said as he moved quickly away from the container. However, the large robot was on the move again and Mega Man was knocked violently to the side as it landed. He smashed against another metal container and a spike sprouted right above him. He began carefully crawling forward but another spike erupted at ground level right in front of him. Mega Man rolled to the side and frantically kept rolling as he noticed the bulk of the robot above him. He managed to get on the other side of it and stood up quickly.

Mega Man decided to try something a little stronger than simple plasma. He carefully maneuvered until the exposed eyes were in range and he released a Hard Knuckle. The fist connected with robots eye and deep cracks formed. Mega Man backed up a few paces and again waited until it was in the air again to move. It crashed down in front of him; he took swift aim at the cracks, and fired a series of Spark Shocks. The powerful electricity passed freely into the inner mechanics of the beast and shorted them out. The robot moved feebly up and down on its legs before shutting down.

"Now to get out of here before something else attacks me."

He looked around and glimpsed an opening between the various storage units and peered through it. It actually appeared to be a sort of path and he carefully followed it. He occasionally had to slide under or jump over spikes jutting from the walls but he made good time and was soon approaching a large sailing ship with tattered rigging and a gang plank at the ready. Mega Man looked around but this seemed to be the most likely way forward. He boarded the ship and immediately became aware of an odd scuttling all around him. He peeked behind a nearby barrel and was shot in the face by a Met.

"Ouch. I should have known I'd be running into you guys."

He waited until the little bugger raised its helmet to attack and finished it. In the next second, he was struck in the back by something large and heavy. Clutching the barrel, he managed to stay on his feet and turned around. Not only were there Mets running around but several turrets had risen out of the deck. The one nearest him lobbed a large ball at him and he dodged it only to trip over a Met. This and another turret adjusted their aim and fired one after the other. Mega Man crawled out of the way and rose to his feet while shooting at the nearest turret. He managed to destroy it but took a minor beating from the nearby Mets as well.

"Ok, it's time for a new plan."

He sprinted across the deck while dodge enemy fire and started climbing into the rigging. While the turrets, were adjusting their aim, he rained down plasma on them and quickly took out a couple. However, another turret, as well as a few Mets, all managed to strike either at or near him and he lost his grip. Mega Man fell but one foot became tangled in the old ropes and he dangled upside down. He saw another turret making adjustments to its cannon, so he focused his fire on it. It exploded just after it had lobbed its projectile which missed Mega Man but sent shockwaves through the ropes. His foot was dislodged and he landed on his head before flopping onto his back.

"I'm glad nobody saw that because it wasn't very big on dignity. Oh hello…" he said as he looked up and saw that he had landed in a circle of Mets. He grunted in pain as they all fired at once as close range. He fired but they were back under their helmets. He quickly stood up before they again raised their helmets and fired. He wasn't sure what instinct made him try it but he activated Top Spin while doing his best attempt at a pirouette. His spinning body not only deflected the shots from the Mets but he crashed into a few and actually flipped them over. The hardhat based robots squirmed like upended turtles but they were now helpless.

"I almost feel bad for doing this" Mega Man said as he watched the robots continue to try vainly to get back on their feet. Nonetheless, he quickly finished them and turned to the remaining few. He endured another round of plasma as he turned around but it didn't take much to end the Met problem.

Deciding not to give anything else the chance to attack him, he ran for an open door that turned out to lead below deck. He soon found his way into a large open area, presumably for storage, that was empty save for Needle Man. The robot master was squatting in a corner working with a large ball of yarn.

"Are you knitting?" Mega Man asked as he approached.

"Everyone needs a hobby" Needle Man replied "What am I supposed to while I wait for you?" he asked as he held up the spikes that passed for arms "Play solitaire?"

"You have a point I suppose but why wait at all if you get bored?"

"I guess I didn't want to be outdone. It's like a game; everyone wants to see whose traps will give you the hardest time. I thought simple but powerful would work but maybe I went too simple. Anyway" he said as he carefully laid his work aside "now it's my turn."

"I suppose it is" Mega Man said as he struck a fighting pose.

Needle Man moved first; he suddenly leaned forward and launched spiked top of his head at Mega Man. He dodged in surprise and Needle Man began spraying long needles from his arms at the distracted hero. Mega Man cried out as the needles struck him but he kept his presence of mind well enough to fire back. Needle Man flinched slightly but wasn't badly hurt. He jumped into the air and began raining needles down but Mega Man was already running under Needle Man and preparing to fire from behind. The plasma struck the robot master in the back and he grunted slightly before coming back down to earth.

Needle Man spun and fired more needles from his arms. Mega Man jumped to the side but Needle Man was already in the air and attacking from above. Mega Man grunted as his body was peppered with painful pricks from the needles and he had to run to get out of range of this assault. He quickly turned and fired his buster but Needle Man was already in another part of the room. Mega Man turned to face him and had to quickly duck to avoid having his face be impaled by a flying needle. As it was, the projectile scratched the top of his helmet and Mega Man sighed with relief at the narrow escape.

His relief was short lived; he straightened up and saw Needle Man charging right at him. Needle Man thrust one of his arms forward and Mega Man quickly stepped to the side to avoid it. Needle Man immediately attacked him with the other arm and Mega Man stepped out of its way. This deadly dance continued and Mega Man kept backing up in order to stay safe while Needle Man's eyes filled with a smug glint. Mega Man reached the edge of the room and jumped to the side while Needle Man plunged his arm forward. The smug look vanished as his long appendage became stuck in the wooden wall.

"Well that's a bit unexpected" Needle Man said as he tried to dislodge his arm

"It's also a bit funny" Mega Man replied "and presents a nice target."

Deciding to try something with a little more kick, he fired a small series of Spark Shock. The electricity jolted Needle Man and caused him to spasm slightly. Unfortunately, this provided the necessary momentum to free his arm and he immediately turned and fired upon Mega Man. Mega Man was caught off guard and was scratched up by the flying needles. He stumbled backwards and fell on his butt. He yelped as Needle Man lunged at him again and he fell flat on his back with a needle arm on each side of his head.

"No this is funny" Needle Man chuckled

Mega Man responded by raising his buster and shooting Needle Man directly in one of his eyes. Needle Man screamed in pain and jumped back away from Mega Man. Mega Man scrambled to his feet and instantly screamed in pain and surprise. Needle Man had recovered very quickly and had once again launched the top of his head, this time directly into Mega Man's midsection. His metal body just barely avoided puncture but the "crown" did leave a deep dent. Needle Man retracted his crown and Mega Man toppled to his knees.

He popped up quickly and fired upon Needle Man but the robot master jumped over the plasma. Needles rained from above and Mega Man was scratched up even more as he tried to crawl to safety. He got to his feet as he heard his foe crash down behind him. He turned and fired some more Spark Shocks causing Needle Man to flinch in pain. He responded by firing more needles at Mega Man. Mega Man slid under them and came to stop near Needle Man's feet. He immediately unloaded several rounds of plasma at the robot master who in turn again tried to stab Mega Man. The blue robot rolled to the side and climbed to his feet.

"I almost wish you had more tricks" Mega Man said "This is a little repetitive"

"How's this for shaking things up?" Needle Man asked as he jumped toward the center of the room while extending his crown. The large spike was rammed into the ceiling and Needle Man was suspended by the chain. Mega Man was still taking in this bizarre turn of events when Needle Man began to spin and fire needles from both arms.

"The spinning needle cannon" he shouted in glee while Mega Man ran about the room desperately trying to find a free spot. "What do you think?"

"I'll be honest; I'm not the biggest fan."

Needle Man simply laughed and continued to rain down needles into all corners of the room. "It's so funny to see you scurrying around down there like a rat."

"It's also amusing to see you hanging like a goose…or shall I say a sitting duck" Mega Man had a few free seconds while Needle Man adjusted his aim and he took full advantage of it. He took swift aim and fired another round of Spark Shocks directly at the chain connecting his foe to the ceiling. The electricity traveled down the metal links and entered directly in Needle Man's body. Needle Man screamed and jerked uncontrollably before crashing heavily to the floor.

"Ok, that was pretty clever" Needle Man conceded as he continued to twitch on the floor and slowly retracted the crown.

"Your spinning attack was actually pretty good" Mega Man said as he approached "Just with a flaw. Not really a flaw if I hadn't already fought Spark Man."

"So is this the new phase of battle?" Needle Man asked as he climbed unsteadily to his feet "Killing with kindness?"

"I don't suppose your current programming would allow for that."

"Nope" Needle Man said as he launched a heavy hail of needles at his foe. They came with less speed and force than before but Mega Man himself was finding it harder to move. He had to use Top Spin to avoid most of the projectiles and began firing back. Needle Man grunted as the plasma battered his body and he leapt into the air to both avoid and attack Mega Man from above. Mega Man again whirled out of the way and tired a Hard Knuckle. It struck Needle Man as he was touching down and threw him to the ground.

As he struggled to get up, Mega Man grabbed him by one of his arms and began absorbing the Needle Cannon data. Needle Man jabbed Mega Man with the other arm and he staggered backwards with a small but sparking hole in his side. Needle Man chuckled softly and continued getting up. He was struck in the face by another Hard Knuckle and thrown back down. Mega Man fired his newly acquired Needle Cannon at the dented Needle Man. Tiny nicks began to form in the metal body and Needle Man cried out in frustration.

He hopped up and fired his crown in desperation. Mega Man's slowed reactions failed to save him and again he was struck in the midsection by the heavy spike. Needle Man leapt to the side and struck Mega Man with the crown again. Mega Man was now on the ground with a heavily damaged body and energy leaking from more than one place. He rolled over and poured as much as he could muster into another Spark Shock. Needle Man failed to avoid it and screamed as electricity passed though the newly formed holes in his body. His insides surged with lethal energy for a second time and he dropped to the ground like Mega Man.

"I think" Needle Man said "we may have a draw."

"Looks that way" Mega Man responded as the room went black.


	8. Abducted

Chapter 8: Abducted

"I…I can see a light. It's so warm"

The voice of Dr. Light responded with a concerned "Rock?"

"Now I hear a kind and loving voice. Is that you God?"

"Very funny Rock" Roll chimed in

"That voice…oh no, I didn't end up in Heaven at all!"

"That's just rude!" she replied in a huff while Dr. Light chuckled

"Just trying to break up the monotony of these repair sessions" Mega Man opened his eyes and continued "I assume you teleported me home after the fight?"

"We tried to contact you and received no response" Roll chimed in "How'd things go?"

"Needle Man and I sort of finished each other off. It was more luck than anything else that helped me do that well, he's one tough cookie."

"Especially considering Albert and I didn't build him for combat" Dr. Light commented.

"Where is Dr. Wily?" Mega Man asked as he sat up slightly and looked around the lab

"In his room…again" Roll answered

"He likes his time alone especially in stressful times" Dr. Light answered

"I've also been researching where Rock should go next" Dr. Wily said as he entered the room "and it seems there isn't much of a trial forward. He's already dealt with the most obvious robot threats."

"Then there's something we're missing" Mega Man said "or we'll just have to check every lead no matter how unlikely. There are still five mysterious robots out there."

"Five robots…oh yes that mysterious Break Man" Dr. Wily replied

"Right" Mega Man agreed

"That's all well and good" Roll cut in "but you can't just follow every rabbit trail you find looking for these guys. That would take ages and many will be just normal crimes or…anything."

"What do we do then? Just wait for them to attack and hope no one gets hurt?"

"We are trying to narrow the search" Dr. Light said as he put the final touches on M ega Man's repairs "I've even been sending messages asking for help to some of my colleagues and acquaintances. Let's see I contacted Pedro in Brazil, Jude in Canada…"

Dr. Light paused to think and Dr. Wily cut in, almost to himself "Sadly no one has been very successful. I had such high hopes too, especially for Mikhail."

Mega Man hopped off of the table and began to pace in frustration. "I just can't believe this. Why aren't they causing trouble or something to attract me?"

"Do you actually want them to cause trouble?" Roll asked in concern

"It's also odd to see you actually itching for a fight" Dr. Light added.

Mega Man stopped pacing and said "I just want all of this chaos to stop. I want to make sure everyone I care about is safe once and for all."

"That's all we want as well" Dr. Light responded

"It's time to get back to the search" Dr. Wily said as he sat down at the computer "We'll leave no stone unturned."

"I think I'm going to check on Rush" Mega Man said "It'll help me unwind a bit."

"Good idea" Dr. Wily said

He stepped out of the lab and paused in the yard to enjoy the calm, sunny weather. He looked colors of the flowers and listened to the music of the birdsong. He heard movement behind him and a voice said "Pretty day, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is"

"Glad to ruin it for you then"

Mega Man suddenly realized that he knew that voice and spun on the spot. "Break man"

"Hi. Let's take this chat somewhere more private." He grabbed Mega Man by the wrist and teleported. They materialized in a long, wide corridor with visible wires in many places. Break Man pushed Mega Man away from himself and said "That's better."

"Wha…where are we?"

"We're far away from anyone who can help you."

Rather than giving Mega Man any time to respond, he simply fired on the blue hero. Mega Man was caught off guard and took the plasma in the chest. The force sent him stumbling backwards into the wall. He quickly dodged to the side as plasma flew towards him and he fired back. Break Man raised his shield and deflected the shot. Mega Man tried to put a little distance between them but he was suddenly lifted off of his feet.

"What the…" he exclaimed in surprise as he rose higher and was carried back towards Break Man. He looked up and noticed a large and obviously very powerful horseshoe magnet floating above him. Break Man blasted him; this not only caused plasma damage but knocked him out of the magnet's field and he slammed to the ground hard.

"May I assume that Magnet Man will be joining us?" Mega Man asked as he stood up

"I may leave something left of you for him to play with."

"Any particular reason you want to tear me apart?"

Break Man gave an exaggerated shrug and said "I guess I just don't like you very much, bro."

He then fired off several rounds of plasma that Mega Man had to dance around to avoid damage. He felt the pull of another magnet and Break Man took several steps to the side to avoid also being affected by the narrow beam of magnetism. Mega Man tried too late to move and his feet left the ground. Break Man took aim but Mega Man fired first with a Spark Shock. The ball of energy struck the masked robot and caused his whole body to twitch.

"Ow!"

"Shocking isn't it?" Mega Man said as he managed to shoot the overhead magnet and drop to the ground.

"Ok, that just earned you more pain."

He leapt at Mega Man and landed just feet from him while firing all the while. Mega Man was battered by the shots until he managed to sneak in a Hard Knuckle. Break Man threw his shield up but was still sent staggering backwards by the impact. Mega Man used Top Spin to get away from Break Man as well as avoiding the pull of another magnet. Break Man was rushing to catch up and this time he was lifted by the magnet. Mega Man took the opportunity to return fire and Break Man squirmed in midair trying to block the plasma with his shield. His flailing caused him to break free and drop to the ground.

"You know" Mega Man said "this may not have been the best choice of a battle ground."

"Just makes things more interesting" Break Man replied before running toward Mega Man while clinging to the walls. In this manner he avoided the pull of more passing magnets and caught up in seconds. "Now where were we?"

He answered his own question by slamming Mega Man with the shield. Mega Man was momentarily stunned by the sudden attack and Break Man followed up with a hail of plasma. Mega Man ducked and dodged to the side while returning fire. Break Man took a shot of plasma in the side and adjusted his position so as to block the attacks. Mega Man tried another Spark Shock but that was deflected the same as the plasma.

"I need to get one of those things" Mega Man muttered as he stepped backwards while dodging more enemy fire.

"You also need to pay attention to your surroundings" Break Man said "End of the line"

Two things now happened in rapid succession; first Mega Man felt his foot touch the edge of a drop off and then Break Man shoved him over the edge. Mega Man hit the floor hard and looked at his new surroundings. The corridor had led to a large rectangular pit no visible way to get out. Break Man was now strolling around the edge of the pit chuckling at this turn of events. "Now this is what I call fun"

"It's not very sporting"

"Of course it is, you're free to shoot back and climb out."

"How do I…" Mega Man fell silent as a block materialized near him and then disappeared while some more blocks appeared slightly higher up. "Oh crud"

Break Man laughed while taking aim. Mega Man ran to the side only to slam into the lowest block as it materialized again. The plasma struck him in the side and he fell to the ground. He stood up and tried to jump on a block as it appeared but found himself soaring right over it. He landed and continued to slide towards a large magnet in the wall of the pit. He turned around and tried to escape the pull but made slow progress. He was then knocked out of the field of influence by more enemy plasma.

Mega Man returned fire but Break Man was on the move. He ran to another side of the pit and continued to snipe at the blue hero. Mega Man did his best to avoid the enemy fire while trying to climb the blocks. Break Man continued to laugh and move change his angle of attack. Mega Man finally managed to climb onto one of the blocks but was knocked off before he could jump to the next level.

"This is just too much…" Break Man broke off as an odd howl filled the room. He looked up just in time for Rush in Jet mode to smash into him. Break Man tumbled into the pit and Mega Man quickly leapt on Rush's back. Within seconds he was safely on the floor above while Break Man climbed to his feet and looked around.

"What the…? Where did that mutt come from?"

"He is not a mutt" Mega Man said as he hugged Rush. Boy and dog broke apart just in time for Break Man's plasma to pass between them.

"You're both going to be scrap when I get out of here!" He jumped onto one of the vanishing blocks but was pulled off by the giant magnet. He leapt from another angle but his timing was off and he passed through the air where a block used to be. "Oh come on, this is insane!"

"Don't worry you'll figure it out…eventually" Mega Man said as he and Rush ran towards the door.

Break Man's reply was drowned out as the door shut behind them. "I am so glad to see you boy" Mega Man said giving Rush another hug "but how on earth did you find me?"

Rush barked once before a small projector rose out of his back. An image of Dr. Light was produced and he looked very relieved "Rock! Oh my boy, I am so happy to see you."

"I'm happy to see you too. Break Man kidnapped me and I only just got away with Rush's help."

"So that's what happened. We just knew you were suddenly gone and we feared you'd been attacked or worse."

Roll was heard in the background "He's ok?!" She ran into view to confirm this fact before saying "Oh good, now I can kill you for making us worry."

"Blame Break Man, not me."

"We ran a scan using the advanced programs Albert had developed" Dr. Light went on "and were shocked to discover your signal coming from outer space."

Mega Man stared blankly at the projection for a few seconds before saying "What?"


	9. Opposing Forces

Chapter 9: Opposing Forces

"That's right" the projection of Dr. Light said "You're in space. Specifically, you're in the asteroid belt."

"Asteroid belt…well I guess that fits. I mean Shadow Man started as a servant of the Asteroid Droids."

"Exactly" Dr. Light agreed "I do believe we're getting closer to the source of these events."

"How are we getting closer?" Roll asked in frustration "The asteroid belt is huge! Mega Man can't search all of it checking every rock for secret robot bases!"

"Somehow I get the feeling that won't be a problem" Mega Man said "Break Man wanted me to be here so I have a feeling his compatriots will want me finding them…assuming I survive this place."

"Of course you'll survive it" Roll added with a fierce and proud look on her face "You're the great Mega Man."

"Oh Roll you're embarrassing me."

"It's true. You're awesome."

"I'm afraid I'm also wasting time" Mega Man replied with sudden seriousness "Break Man could catch up to me at any time and I still have four other robots to deal with besides him."

"You're right my boy" Dr. Light said "Go do what you need to do and we'll be doing our part from down here. I just also wanted to tell you that we wish you all the luck in the world…"

"And beyond it" Roll cut in

"Yes indeed" Dr. Light went on with a slight chuckle "and also that Rush has a few E-Tanks stored inside him, just in case."

"Thanks you guys. I'll see you real soon!" He flashed a grin and waved as his family did that same and the transmission cut out. "Ok boy, it's you and me against goodness knows what. You ready for it?"

Rush barked, playfully struck a defensive pose and growled before popping back to happy mode. "I'll take that as a yes" Mega Man said with a laugh "let's go."

He carefully scrutinized his current surroundings for the first time. He was in another corridor that went on for a while before coming to a ledge. Another, higher ledge could be glimpsed in the distance giving the whole hallway the appearance of a staircase. Mega Man and Rush walked forward on alert for attack. Mega Man also glanced backwards at the door leading to the vanishing block pit but there was no sign of Break Man. As he was glancing back, Mega Man didn't immediately notice that he was starting to drift forward faster than he was walking.

"Oh look boy" he exclaimed with mock enthusiasm "more magnets."

With some effort, he managed to hold his ground while he tried to determine the best path forward. Rush yelped as an odd robot walked over the edge and landed on top of the dog. Rush shook it off and it righted itself giving a clear view of what appeared to be an eyeball on two legs. It moved by turning somersaults and alternating legs and it was now rolling towards Mega Man. He shot it and it went down easily but he was now being pulled toward the wall again. Rush ran forward with his spring already exposed and Mega Man was able to jump to the floor above. Rush leapt as high as he could and managed to grasp the ledge with his forepaws whereupon Mega Man quickly pulled him up the rest of the way.

"Thanks boy. It looks like we have more company."

He was pointing towards more eye robots rolling towards them. Mega Man fired upon the closest robot while Rush tackled another. The dog pinned the eye bot down and ripped a leg off while another robot tried to roll up from behind. Rush didn't even look back as he kicked with his hind leg hard enough to drop the robot over the previous ledge.

"Wow, good job Rush" Mega Man remarked as they finished off the last eye bots "I should have brought you along from the beginning. Anyway, let's go!"

They ran past the wreckage of these eye bots and approached the next ledge. This time the magnet was even stronger and the heroic robots were being pulled forward rather quickly. He tried to stop but the electric attraction was too far powerful. In a burst of inspiration he wildly fired a spray Needle Cannon. The already fast moving metal spikes were quickly accelerated by the pull of the magnet and they had sufficient force to pierce the wall. Mega Man and Rush slammed hard into wall in the midst of the impaled needles.

"Ok, this could be worse" as he finished speaking a small rocket soared over the ledge above and homed in on Mega Man. His grunt as it struck him was more from shock than pain but more were already appearing "And this is one way"

With great effort, he pulled his buster arm off the wall and shot down the missiles. He then grabbed a needle with his other arm and began to slowly pull himself up. Rush whined and struggled for a moment before converting to jet mode and rocketing upwards. He soared between the missiles and they began to home on him.

"Rush! I…thanks boy."

Mega Man climbed with doubled strength and vigor. As he poked his head over the top, he saw the source of the troubles. A large dome like robot was slowly moving along the passage firing the rockets out its top. Mega Man started firing upon it before he was even fully over the ledge. The robot began releasing more rockets and some focused on Mega Man rather than his dog. He was forced to divert his shots from the robot itself to defend himself. The robot kept inching closer while Mega Man fired on it as consistently as he could. Mega Man tried to climb all the way up but the robot sped up and knocked him backwards.

Mega Man managed to grab one of the needles while the magnet further served to hold him in place. Rush soared past and flew right over the robot before dropping altitude by several feet. The rockets that were chasing him tried to follow his actions but slammed right into the large robot. Its outer shell had already been weakened by Mega Man's plasma and the rockets finished it off. Mega Man finished his climb and squeezed past the smoking remains so he could once again hug his dog.

"That was amazing Rush! I mean you could have been blown to bits but it worked." The dog barked and wagged his tail in happiness. Mega Man straightened up and observed no more obstacles, simply a door. "I have a feeling I know who's behind that. Let's go boy."

They passed through the door into a large empty room. Mega Man was looking around when a voice said "Back here."

Mega Man turned around to see Magnet Man standing near the door. "I see you survived Break Man. It was nice of him to deliver you here even if he can be a bit rough."

"No more rough than your lovely asteroid base."

"What can I say? It's become traditional; as has this…"

He touched the magnet on this forehead causing it to glow. He swiftly pointed his hand at Mega Man and launched the energy which quickly took on the shape of a horseshoe magnet. Mega Man tried to dodge but the magnet followed him and exploded as it brushed his side. He was quickly bombarded by two more which were equally damaging. Rush tried to tackle Magnet Man but he fired a few more of these energy magnets at the dog. He was knocked out of the air by the explosions and Mega Man exclaimed in anger.

"I didn't tell you to bring a pet" Magnet Man said "You don't see me bringing Snake Man to duels do you?"

"Fair point…mean but fair. I guess I also need to keep in mind that he can take care of himself."

Magnet Man was side blinded by the angry dog and was literally knocked sideways. He struggled while rush tore at him with teeth and claws alike. He tried to throw Rush off but this proved rather difficult. After another few moments, Rush was thrown back by an explosion and Magnet Man climbed swiftly to his feet. Rush seemed a little unsteady and Mega Man ran to his side.

"A Magnet Missile at point blank range and he only looks stunned" Magnet Man remarked while shaking his head "You have one tough dog."

"Yeah he is but I can take it from here" he said more to Rush than to Magnet Man. He watched Rush retreat to a corner before standing up and facing his foe. "Ok you and me now."

"Sounds lovely."

Mega Man began firing immediately but his plasma bounced harmlessly off of an electromagnetic field that had formed around the robot master. On top of this, Mega Man found he was being pulled closer to Magnet Man who suddenly dropped the field and released another trio of Magnet Missiles. Mega Man was too close to dodge and took the full brunt of the attack. He tried to strike back but Magnet Man had jumped into the air and almost seemed to hover as he released more missiles.

Mega Man ran a little ways before stopping. Right as the magnets curved downwards to attack him, he used a Top Spin to swiftly move away. The missiles lacked the time to course correct and exploded on the ground instead of on Mega Man. Magnet Man himself landed without enough time to protect himself from the incoming plasma. He recovered quickly and fired more missiles towards Mega Man who chose to slide under them this time. Again, they weren't able to course correct before exploding but this time on the wall.

Magnet Man leapt across the room again while launching more missiles. Mega Man pulled the same stunt as before but was slightly off with his timing. He wasn't directly struck by the projectiles but the resulting blast knocked him to the ground. He then felt himself being pulled across the floor and he saw Magnet Man quite close and pulling his opponent even closer with his force field. Mega Man thought fast and took his opportunity when the field dropped. Before any Magnet Missiles could be fired, he released a Spark Shock which caused Magnet Man to scream in pain.

"I thought so" Mega Man said "You run on magnetism so I wondered what a powerful jolt of electricity might do to that."

Rush barked in appreciation of his master's cleverness and Magnet Man said "Quiet you. That's rather good" he said turning his attention back to Mega Man "but will it be good enough?"

During this time Mega Man had been getting to his feet but now he was knocked back down by a Magnet Missile to the chest. He frantically rolled to the side to avoid another and fired another Spark Shock. Magnet Man tried to throw up his shield but the ball of energy was already striking him. Mega Man got up and fired another. This time the shield was up and Mega Man was struggling to hold his ground. He once again turned to Top Spin to give him the speed needed to break free and he was ready to zap his foe once he was vulnerable again.

Magnet Man screamed and dropped to his knees. He was in bad shape and even had faint wisps of smoke rising from parts of his body. He tried to stand up but Mega Man acted quickly with another massive spark. Magnet Man fell to the ground and seemingly couldn't get back up.

"Foiled by a fundamental weakness" he said in a quiet voice "It seems that every robot has at least one."

"This isn't my first rodeo" Mega Man said with his buster still primed "I'm ready for any tricks."

"As much as I hate to admit it, this fight is over. I imagine someone will be escorting you to your next one soon."

Mega Man lowered his buster a fraction but remained on alert. However, Magnet Man shut his eyes and moved no more. Mega Man sighed at the disturbingly familiar sight and absorbed the data for Magnet Missile. Rush sped to Mega Man's side and opened a compartment so Mega Man could remove an E-Tank.

"Thanks boy" he said before drinking deeply from the blue can "Ah that's better. I wonder what he meant by…"

Mega Man didn't finish that sentence as he and Rush were suddenly surrounded by energy for a teleport. A few seconds later the room was empty save for the defeated Magnet Man.


	10. A Hiss in the Dark

A Hiss in the Dark

"Ok I wasn't really expecting that" Mega Man said as he and Rush materialized in a new location. They were standing in a large tunnel lined with green bricks arranged in an odd fashion. "They almost look like scales…someone has really made themselves at home."

Rush spun around and growled. Mega Man turned but saw nothing. He thought he heard something scuttling in the walls and Rush turned to follow the sound. A strange hissing, almost like soft laughter met their ears and Mega Man felt a bit unnerved.

"Snake Man? Is that you?" His only answer was another round of hissing laughter and rapid scuttling "Stay on your guard boy, this could get…interesting."

They began to move down the tunnel which was set at an upward incline. A strange thumping noise reached Mega Man's ears right before an odd robot bounced into sight. It was grey with large eyes and a rectangular body almost as large as Mega Man himself. It flapped it's stubby wing-like appendages while it bounced towards him with alarming speed. Mega Man was too surprised to move and it slammed into him, causing him to roll back down the incline. He stood up as the robot came bouncing up from behind. This time Mega Man side stepped it and fired plasma at it. The robot didn't have a high defense and soon fell to pieces.

"And moving on" Mega Man said as he indicated Rush to follow him along the sloping tunnel. The floor suddenly dropped off and Mega Man was taken by surprise; he teetered for a minute before falling over the edge. The fall wasn't very fall but he was still shaken up as he face planted. He looked up to see another grey robot bouncing toward him. It looked like it was going to land on his back and squish him but Rush tackled it from above causing it to fall helplessly onto its back.

"Thanks again boy" Mega Man said as he stood up "Maybe I should just let you deal with the robot masters."

Rush barked appreciatively and they quickly moved on from the hopping robot who was still struggling like a flipped turtle. After they had passed a little further down the tunnel, Rush began growling and pounced at something on the ground in the shadows. Mega Man initially couldn't see what Rush was after but then felt a sharp jolt in his foot. He looked down and saw a metallic green snake biting him. He shot it to pieces but he could hear more slithering around. Rush was very agitated and was pouncing all over the place trying to catch one of the snakes.

Something far larger and heavier shifted in the shadows and Mega Man fired at it. The area was momentarily illuminated by the plasma as a figure recoiled. "Ow. That ssssmartss."

"Snake Man, if you want to fight me, then come out and face me directly."

"Where'sss the fun in that?" the voice hissed as the shadow seemed to melt away. Mega Man ran to the spot but a panel in the wall was already sliding shut.

"And the games continue…oh well let's keep moving."

They did so and soon came to a place where the tunnel turned into a series of rising ledges, similar to the ones in Magnet Man's area but much closer together and easier to climb. Mega Man jumped to the first ledge but was knocked back down by a large mechanical snake popping out of the ground. The ledges above also had snakes swaying about like an odd game of whack-a-mole. While they were still taking this in, the three snakes opened their mouths and released balls of energy. Mega Man and Rush jumped to the side to avoid the attack but already the serpents were preparing another round.

"Stay behind me Rush" Mega Man said as he fired upon the lowest snake. It retreated back into the ground but his attack hit the second snake. It swayed and sparked while the first and third attacked again. Mega Man dodged while firing and managed to take out the first two snakes. The third rose to attack but Mega Man impaled its head with a Needle Cannon. It sparked and flailed before a plasma shot finished it off.

Rush barked and leapt up onto the first ledge. "Ok, ok I'm coming" Mega Man said with a slight smile.

They climbed up the ledges and the tunnel continued for a ways before branching off in several directions. Mega Man paused and peered down each tunnel but discovered no clues as to how to proceed. Rush was slowly prowling around while sniffing and cocking his ears but seemed equally lost. Suddenly he stiffened and stared intently down the passage on the right. Mega Man couldn't see anything yet but the dog seemed agitated. Suddenly he barked and ran in the opposite direction. Mega Man's confusion quickly turned into panic as a massive green snake came slithering quickly towards him.

He turned and bolted after his dog as the huge serpent tried to keep up. Mega Man glanced over his shoulder in time to see it open its mouth and vomit a ball of fire. Thinking quickly Mega Man poured his energy into a Top Spin. He whirled frantically and the bulk of the flames were quickly carried away from him by the momentum. He still took some damage but he was pleased that it wasn't far worse. His moment of joy was shattered as the large head butted into him at speed, causing him to bounce painfully down the tunnel.

He sat up and watched as the snake as the snake came to a halt with its mouth open. There was a red glow deep inside which meant more fire was to follow. Mega Man readied his buster but Rush suddenly soared overhead and rammed right into one of the beast's eyes. The snake thrashed as much as the narrow tunnel allowed while Rush reverted to canine mode and continued biting and scratching at that eye. Mega Man took the opportunity to blast the other eye but this made the beast recoil even more wildly and Rush was smashed against the ceiling.

"Rush!" Mega Man ran to catch his dog but the snake barreled forward and knocked the dog into a side tunnel. Mega Man himself was caught on the charging serpent's nose and carried along the tunnel at speed. He somehow managed to roll sideways off of the snake and into a side tunnel. He bounced to a stop and got to his feet. The tunnel was much narrower than the main one he had just escaped so the beast couldn't follow him here.

"On the other hand Rush is missing and I'm still being stalked by Snake Man so not out of the woods yet."

He began to walk along the dim passage with his buster at the ready. He thought he heard some faint laughter but couldn't tell where it was coming from. The laughter was joined by the sound of rapid footsteps and a small robot carrying a stick come running towards him. Mega Man tried to shoot it but it pole vaulted over him using the stick and it's spring like body. It landed and slammed into Mega Man from behind. He stumbled and fell onto his butt in time to see a pair of small snakes falling from above.

The green menaces began to painfully crawl all over the flailing hero. He struggled to his knees but the snakes continued to cling to him and avoid capture. All the while, Snake Man's laughter was only getting louder and more raucous. Mega Man grabbed one of the snakes and pulled it off of him seconds before it bit him. He dropped the thing and is slithered right back. All this time the pole vaulting robot was butting against him and trying to make him trip again. Finally in a fit of frustration, Mega Man kicked the little robot away while rapidly firing upwards towards the laughter. Snake Man screamed and crashed to the ground. The smaller snakes stopped moving and fell off of him and he quickly blasted them before they could revive themselves.

"Alright Snake Man are finally going to do this?" Mega Man said as he held his buster at the ready.

"We have been doing thisss the entire time" the green robot responded "The gamessss began asss sssoon asss you entered my playground."

"Playground?"

"What, aren't you having fun? Ssssearch Sssnake!"

He shouted the last two words while more of the little green snakes erupted from his buster. Mega Man had to focus his efforts on dealing with these while Snake Man again slipped away. He danced on the spot as they tried to bite his feet and he ended up crushing one under his heel. The other jumped at him but he kicked it in midair and blasted it upon landing.

"Annoying yet effective; I think I may enjoy absorbing that one."

He continued down the tunnel and dealt with a few more pole vaulting robots. He paused when he heard more slithering and hissing in the shadows to his right. He readied his buster and took a few soft steps in that direction. "Ok Snake Man, here we…." His words were cut off when a long, green tube shot out of the shadows at high speed and slammed him against the wall behind him.

"…go again" he said finishing his earlier sentence in shock and confusion…that wasn't Snake Man"

He shook his head and focused revealing the "tube" to be another of the smaller snake beasts, like the ones from the ledges. It was slithering back into the wall while its hisses greatly resembled giggles. Mega Man stood all the way up and took a step forward before being struck in the back by a ball of plasma. He managed to stay on his feet and turned to see another snake poking out of the wall a couple of yards behind him. He then had to quickly dodge to the side to avoid being rammed again by the first one.

"Well it's not a rock and a hard place but I do seem stuck."

Both popped out of their hiding places and fired their balls of plasma. Mega Man deflected both with a Top Spin. The energy balls few in random directions while the snakes slithered around to dodge them. Mega Man stopped facing the one behind him and fired a Hard Knuckle. The fist found it's mark and knocked the head clean off. Meanwhile the other one, which was much closer than it's fallen partner, clamped it's powerful jaws onto Mega Man's arm and began slamming him around.

"Nice bite, how do you like mine?" he said as he pointed his buster at the snakes head and fired several Needle Cannons. The long spikes easily penetrated the emerald scales and caused the beast to short circuit. It released Mega Man and fell lifeless on the floor.

"I'm starting to see why many people don't like snakes."

He continued on his way and was undisturbed for a while. His senses were on red alert for any enemy activity but mostly just heard occasional distant hissing and scuttling echoing down the tunnels. He was soon surprised to find the tunnel end on sudden drop off. He was standing at edge of a large pit with another tunnel on the other side but quite inaccessible. Mega Man turned to see if there was a path he'd missed when what looked like a cloud came floating out of the shadows towards him.

"Ok that's unexpected"

The words had no sooner left his mouth when the cloud burst apart to reveal a rocket that launched itself at him with amazing speed. Mega Man flattened himself against the wall of the tunnel while the rocket zoomed past. He looked up to two more flying down the tunnel at him more clouds were rising out of the pit. Mega Man ducked so the rockets sailed over him while he tried to shoot down the clouds. Unfortunately this only destroyed the cloud disguise and the rockets within hurled themselves at him. He managed to jump over them but landed right on the edge and heard more rockets approaching as he tried to regain his balance. He spun around and fired upon them but the resulting explosion sent him toppling over the edge.

He screamed as he plummeted into the darkness but his voice was quickly joined by a triumphant howl. Rush flew into view and scooped Mega Man out of the air. "Rush! You're alright!" The dog barked happily and Mega Man went on "You truly are a bot's best friend. Now let's go catch us a snake!"

Rush barked again and soared down the tunnel on the far side of the pit. They dodged a few minor enemies and came to a stop in a large room with no apparent exits. The room was lit far better than the tunnels behind them and Mega Man stepped off of Rush with his buster at the ready. Rush began to growl and pace erratically. Mega Man looked at him quizzically before realizing the floor was vibrating. The vibrations grew rapidly stronger before the huge snake from the tunnels burst through the floor. Snake Man was standing on the massive serpent's head laughing like a maniac.

"Hi Mega Man, I'm sssso glad to sssee that you've made it here."

"Oh so I'm sure you wouldn't have enjoyed seeing me fall to one of your traps?"

"It would have been hilariousss but now we can finish this like real robotssss!"

"Then what's with the basilisk there?"

"You have your pet and I have mine."

With that the large snake opened its mouth and spewed a torrent of flame. Mega Man rush jumped respectively to the left and right to avoid being cooked. It turned its head, and thus the fire, towards Rush while Snake Man jumped down and scuttled towards Mega Man on all fours. Mega Man fired upon him but the enemy robot rolled to the side while generating more small snakes.

"I'm sssure that my now you're well acquainted with my cute little Sssearch Sssnakes."

"Cute isn't the word I'd use" Mega Man said as he ran backwards while trying to shoot them. They zigged and zagged around his shots while Snake Man scuttled around releasing more. They began to once again crawl all over him and he used Top Spin to shake them loose. He then fired on Snake Man who almost appeared to glide out of harm's way.

Meanwhile Rush was flying around the giant snake trying to avoid its fire. It was alternating between fireballs and the steady stream in its attempts to destroy the metal hound. As Rush again avoided being barbequed, the stream of flame passed directly between Mega Man and Snake Man.

"Thisss issss one hot party, isssn't it?" Snake Man said with a smile

"You're really weird" Mega Man said as he continued trying to blast his slippery foe. "Your pet could just as easily end up destroying you instead of me."

"Let'sss jussst ssssay I like high sssstakesssss" Snake Man hissed right before being brushed by one of Mega Man's plasma shot. He popped to his feet and fired a barrage of Search Snakes.

Mega Man was hopping around to avoid the pesky fiends when Rush soared right under him and they took to the air together. They flew in an upward spiral around the large snake and blasted it while always staying just ahead of the flames. Snake Man was now crawling all over the beast trying to better direct its attacks.

"This thing is tough" Mega Man said as they looped around a fire ball to safety "Most of my attacks are simply bouncing…" he fell silent as remembered how easily the Needle Cannon dealt with the smaller snake back in the corridor. "You're right Snake Man; it can be nice to raise the stakes… or in this case needles."

He switched to Needle Cannon and began peppering the mammoth serpent with the spikes. They penetrated the metal scales with ease and the monster began to thrash and spark.

"No! That'sss not fair!" Snake Man hissed as he clung to the creature's flailing back. "That'ssss not…"

His sentence was cut short as he turned to face Mega Man at the exact second another needle was launched. Though it wasn't Mega Man's intent, the bucking monster carried Snake Man right into the needle's path and it was embedded deep in the robot master's forehead. The next few seconds saw Snake Man freeze up, twitch and fall to the floor. Mega Man watched in horror but nearly fell off of Rush as the dog dodged another fire ball.

"Right boy, first things first…"

They continued their areal dance around the great snake but a hail of needles soon weakened it and it collapsed back into its hole. They then landed by Snake Man's body and found that he was in bad shape indeed. "N…n…ni..ce….sssss….hot"

Mega Man instinctively held his hand but Snake Man's eyes went dark a few seconds later. Mega Man absorbed the Search Snake data with mixed emotions but ultimately knew it was the only way. He retrieved an E-Tank from Rush and split it between himself and his canine friend. As they finished the replenishing drink, the familiar glow of a teleport began to form around them.

"Six down, two to go" Mega Man said as they were beamed to the next asteroid.


	11. Me's A Crowd

Me's a Crowd

Mega Man and Rush gazed in awe at their new surroundings. They were standing in what appeared to be a crystalline landscape dotted with hills and craters. Above them, the sky was filled with brightly shining stars and even a few larger bodies that Mega Man surmised were other alien asteroids. He turned his attention to his more immediate surroundings in an attempt to figure out which way to go.

He was shocked when a penguin jumped out of a nearby crater and slide towards them. Robot and dog jumped to the side to avoid the unexpected enemy but it quickly turned around and slid back. This time Rush tackled the bird and dealt with it. While Mega Man was watching this, he glimpsed a round, glass covered machine floating towards them. He jumped aside just in time as it dropped a fireball that rose high in a tower of flame. It repeated this trick several times as Mega Man dodged and finally landed a finishing blow.

"Odd things are trying to kill us" Mega Man remarked "Yeah I'd say we're in the right place."

Rush barked in agreement and Mega Man walked to the top of the crater the penguin had emerged from. "I assume we have to get inside the asteroid like when I fought the Master Unit but I don't see any way in here." Rush barked again, this time more urgently, and Mega Man said "What is it…ahhh!"

Another flame spewing machine had floated up and Mega Man was almost roasted. In his haste to avoid the fire, he skidded and slid down one side of the crater. The machine floated over right as he came to a stop between two flame towers. He pointed his buster up as it came by again and shot it down. As he was doing this, another penguin slid under him and made him fall on his butt. He destroyed the bird on its way back but he could already see more penguins and flame machines gathering.

"This is silly. Rush, get us out of here please."

Rush ran to his side and converted to jet mode. Mega Man hopped on and they soared high above the cluster of enemies. The flame shooters followed them while the penguin robots simply hopped uselessly on the spot. Rush did his best to out fly the flame shooters while Mega Man searched for the correct path forward…or at least some new enemies.

"There" he shouted as he pointed to a large metal hatch in the distance. Rush made changed course while the enemies hurried to keep up. One of the flame shooters popped up in front of them and angled so that it couldn't miss Mega Man. He quickly raised his buster but it exploded before he could do anything to it. This was immediately followed by other explosions as all of the robots chasing them were destroyed.

Mega Man looked down and gasped to see Break Man standing on the hatch. Rush landed and converted to a growling canine as soon as Mega Man stepped off. Break Man laughed and said "It's payback time, you little mutt."

"Leave him alone!" Mega Man said stepping in front of Rush "Your quarrel is obviously with me…whatever it is."

Break Man's tone was far less jovial as he said "It really burns me up when you say things like that."

Before anything else could be said, Mega Man and Rush were thrown back by an explosion. The hatch had forcibly blown open and Break Man was thrown high into the air and landed hard on the crystal ground. The quickly dissipating smoke revealed a path down into the asteroid as well as Gemini Man sitting at the edge of the hole. While everyone else stood back up he just continued to sit there and admire his reflection in a nearby rock.

"How dare you interfere in our fight?" Break Man snarled

"You're the one who keeps interfering" Gemini Man calmly responded "The others may tolerate it but I want Mega Man for myself."

"He said I could have a crack at him…" Break Man said before another Gemini Man appeared behind him with his buster pointed right at the red robot's head.

"And so you have" the clone said "I will not be denied my, how you say, crack at him."

Break Man stared at Mega Man for a few seconds before teleporting away. The sitting Gemini Man said "Splendid! Come find me Mega Man. I would duel you here and now but this place is simply too delicious to waste."

Both Gemini Men vanished and Mega Man realized that neither had been the real one. "I feel almost like I'm in the middle of a particularly violent soap opera and no gave me the script." Rush nudged him and he broke out of this thoughts "I guess it doesn't matter. Together we can handle anything they throw at us."

Mega Man peered down into the pit and saw a ledge being backlit by a strange light from below. He motioned for Rush to follow and he jumped down to the ledge. It was a little farther than he had estimated and he landed in a tumble on the oddly soft ground. A few seconds later his canine companion landed in a heap next to him. Mega Man started to stand up but paused to examine the ground. It consisted of multicolored blocks of soft luminous material. He peered over the edge to see more ledges and he indicated to Rush that they should continue their descent.

At least ledge, the blocks glowed brighter until Mega Man and Rush were standing in a tunnel bathed in strong, multicolored light. "A disco would do quite well down here" Mega Man mused.

They strolled down this tunnel meeting no resistance until they reached a strange wall. It consisted of transparent orbs with a round dark core at the center of each. Mega Man felt the wall and tried to pull some of the orbs out but they wouldn't budge. Rush meanwhile was trying to bite one of the orbs and suddenly punctured it. The ball blasted apart and the core grew into a blue tadpole that shocked Rush when it touched his face and he had to jump back in pain. It chased after the dog by swimming through the air. Mega Man turned his buster on it; he succeeded in destroying the odd robot but another of his blasts hit another orb and "hatched it."

"Well this is interesting" Mega Man said as he carefully eradicated the new tadpole. "It seems that we have to blast our way through."

He proceeded to do just that, carefully shooting only one orb at a time. This proved harder than initially thought as the resulting tadpole robots would swim out of the way of the blast causing Mega Man to hatch more before he was ready. A group of them began to swarm him and he used Top Spin to send them flying. Some were smashed against the wall while the remainder were either blasted or pounced before they could recover. Mega Man then proceeded even more slowly and carefully but finally a small tunnel had been created that hero and dog could crawl through. Mega Man reached the end of the tunnel and poked his head out when he was smacked in the face by something fast and heavy.

"Ouch! What was that?"

He was answered immediately as he saw a penguin robot had backed up and was now rocketing toward him again. Mega Man frantically struggled to free his buster arm in the narrow tunnel but he was smacked again. At the same time, Rush was getting tired of being in the confined space and shoved Mega Man from behind. He popped out of the tunnel and rolled across the floor and collided with another penguin.

"Not cool Rush" Mega Man said as he climbed to his feet and the dog barked sheepishly. The dog fully emerged from the wall of orbs and helped Mega Man take on the arctic enemies. Now that Mega Man was free to move and wasn't preoccupied with a face full of penguins he noticed a massive penguin further down the psychedelic tunnel. It wasn't moving but an opening in its belly kept disgorging more small counterparts. He shot this large bird but the plasma simply bounced off. He rained plasma all over it and managed to score some solid hits in the eyes which caused the thing to explode.

It didn't take long to finish its remaining offspring and continue on their way. The passage began to slope downwards and the way ahead was blocked by water. Mega Man backed up and looked for an alternate path but searched in vain. "Ok then" he said as he returned to where Rush still waiting by the water's edge "It's time to put your submarine mode to good use."

Rush barked and converted into something similar his jet mode but somewhat bulkier. Mega Man crouched down on his back as a clear dome formed and sealed him in. It was a tight squeeze but he didn't complain as Rush entered the subterranean lake and moved with the ease of a fish. Visibility was reduced in this watery environment which caused Mega Man to gasp when a robotic fish about the same size as Rush appeared before them.

"Let's get him boy" Mega Man said as he inserted his buster into a slot in front of him and the resulting plasma burst from Rush's mouth. The fish was quickly dealt with but the heroic duo was then rocked by an explosion not far from them. As Rush tumbled through the water, Mega Man glimpsed another fish below them and it was already launching another rocket from its back.

"We need some speed, Rush!" The dog-marine shot forward and the rocket missed. "Good work, boy! Be on watch for a way out of here."

As he was speaking a pair of fish, one on each side, popped up with surprising speed. They shot forward in an attempt to ram them but Rush put on the breaks and they collided with each other. Rush arced over the wreckage right into the path of another missile. There was no time to stop and they were blasted in the side. Rush was painfully propelled off course as more fish began to swarm. Rush righted himself and turned to face the bulk of the school while Mega Man began to blast. Together they tore through the wreckage of the scaly foes and tried to put some distance between themselves and the fish.

They were now approaching a cluster of towers made of the same bright rocks that formed the interior of the asteroid. Rush swam between them and barely avoided a rocket that sailed out of a hole in the rocks. In doing so, he scraped against another tower and a fish emerged right beneath him. It launched its deadly payload directly up into Rush's underside and they were once again sent spinning through the water.

"Hang in there Rush" Mega Man said as he used his free hand to stroke as near as he could get to the dog's head "You can do this boy."

Rush's eyes narrowed in concentration as he again kicked into high gear and weaved between the narrow towers. A trio of fish tried to block their path but the dog-marine simply rammed them and kept right on going. Mega Man shouted in joy and encouragement and helped by occasionally blasting enemies out of the way. They were soon approaching the far side of the lake where Rush spotted a tunnel and made a beeline for it. They followed it as it curved upwards and they shot out of the water onto dry land. This small stretch of tunnel was devoid of enemies and ended in a metal gate.

Mega Man emerged from his protective dome and Rush returned to dog form. Mega Man immediately hugged his canine companion and said "That was some great swimming. You're the best." Rush barked weakly but with joy. "I'll take it from here. You try to rest a bit."

He gave Rush a final pat on the head and walked towards the gate. It opened for him and he entered a large empty room with walls of clear crystal. The gate slammed shut behind him and he was greeted by soft, smug laughter. Gemini Man teleported into the room and bowed.

"Not bad hero. You survived my lovely home quiet well. I was hoping that you'd find some of the other paths but I suppose this is what I really wanted."

"Then we should get started."

Gemini Man straightened up and smiled "Well I'm waiting."

Mega Man fired his buster and Gemini Man leapt into the air. He landed next to Mega Man and delivered a solid kick to the hero's midsection. Mega Man stumbled backwards while doubled over and Gemini Man forced him down by doing a flip off of his back. He landed and spun around in time to punch Mega Man back down as he stood up. This time Mega Man rolled and landed in a crouching position. He instantly turned and fired his buster but Gemini Man leapt over the plasma and the robot that fired it.

Gemini Man landed gracefully with a smug smirk firmly in place. Mega Man fired and again Gemini Man jumped away but to the left and right. Mega Man found himself attempting to dodge a physical assault from two enemies. He found himself facing one of the foes and fired. The blast caused the clone to disappear while the real one delivered a powerful laser shot from behind. Mega Man was propelled forward by the laser and had to fight to keep his balance. Gemini Man landed in front of him and he attacked instantly only to find he'd struck another clone. This time the laser in the back caused him to slam hard into the wall.

"I had hoped for a challenge but I suppose a superior robot such as myself can't help but easily trounce you, hero."

Mega Man turned to see two Gemini Men admiring each other and posing as if before a mirror. One of them said "Would you like the honors?"

The other replied "Oh yes, thank you very much."

The second robot instantly fired another laser but this time Mega Man was able to dodge it. His eyes grew wide as the beam reflected off of the crystal wall and again bounced of the ceiling. The two Gemini Men jumped backwards as the beam struck the ground near them and turned its path back toward Mega Man. He rolled under it and it finally diffused as it struck the wall behind him.

"Careful hero" the two enemies said in unison "We'd hate for this to end too early."

Mega Man was mentally sifting through his weapons and trying to come up with a strategy. He ran forward while releasing a couple of Magnet Missiles; the problem was that they both followed only one robot while the other was free to attack. Gemini Man was hurt by the magnets while Mega Man was hurt by the clone. He was immediately hurt a second time as the real Gemini Man struck back. Mega Man fired more magnets, this time aiming carefully so that both the clone and the original were hit.

"Not too shabby, hero" Gemini Man smirked "But you'll have to do better than that to beat me."

Gemini Man did another one of his high flying leaps while firing another laser. Again Mega Man dodged but now faced the ricocheting beam of pain. He spent the better part of the next minute dodging and not really paying attention to anything else. When it fizzled out, he looked up in horror at the circle of enemies he was now standing in the center of.

"Let's see how you fair against the Elegant Battle Quartet!" four Gemini Men said with one voice

"Sounds like a music group" Mega Man joked before all four busters rose at once. He slid under the assault as quickly as he could as four lasers collided in a tremendous blast behind him. He straightened up to see two of the Gemini Men leaping toward him with fists at the ready. The next second found him being pummeled by a flurry of punches and kicks while the other clones would leap and snipe with lasers.

"Ah, the glory of bringing down Mega Man at last" one Gemini Man said

"So appropriate for one so glorious" another said as the clones glanced at each other in admiration.

Mega Man took this lull in the barrage to Top Spin to safety. This battle was not going well and he needed to turn the tide very quickly. The trouble was that the Gemini Men were very fast and yet he'd only be able to hurt the real one. He then realized that he had a very handy new weapon…

"Search Snake" he shouted as he summoned several serpents and concentrated on them attacking separate enemies. To his delight the tactic worked and the four enemies were each attacked by a different snake. His delight increased when the real one screamed in agony as the snake slithered up in and bit several times before exploding.

"I hate snakes" Gemini Man snarled as his clones all fired their lasers at Mega Man. He slid under the beams, between the clones, and popped up near the one still backing away.

"Oh then you probably won't like this"

Mega Man fired more Search Snakes and Gemini Man was again covered in the robotic reptiles. Mega Man's smile twisted into agony as a trio of lasers struck him in the back. He could feel his metal skin buckling but it miraculously remained intact. He instantly straightened up and performed a Top Spin. While he was whirling from the momentum, he raised his buster and rained plasma on his four foes. The Gemini Men were battered by the barrage and Mega Man quickly followed this with more Search Snakes while they were still vulnerable.

"No!" Gemini Man screamed as he ripped the snake off of him and hurled it across the room. "This is not how this is supposed to go!"

"It never is" Mega Man said as he slid again causing the clones to slam into each other as they tried to rush him "Nothing ever goes as it's supposed to."

As he was speaking he conjured more snakes. Gemini Man leapt again but was slowed by his injuries allowing the snakes to catch him as he jumped. He soared through the air shouting and sparking all the while as his clones flickered and dissolved. Gemini Man hit the ground hard and didn't get back up. Mega Man walked over and began to absorb his weapon data.

Suddenly, Gemini Man grabbed Mega Man's wrist, popped up, and flipped him judo style. While Mega Man was curving through the air, he fired a plasma shot which hit Gemini Man's damaged chest and tore through to the other side. As Mega Man landed Gemini Man fell backwards, finally felled.

"That's all seven from earth" Mega Man said with a heavy voice "Now it's time for the alien."


	12. Shinobi Strike

**Hello Readers. Here we go, Robot Master #8! Yeah it's been a while...again. I hope you guys are still here and ready for more Mega Man fun. I may take deliberate break before working on the next chapter to work on something else but I am excited about where this story is going. Have fun dealing with Shadow Man!**

* * *

Shinobi Strike

"That's the last of the E Tanks" Mega Man said as Rush lapped up the dregs from the blue can. "And I've done what I can for our injuries"

He looked down at his own battered body as he said this while Rush circled him and barked approvingly at his field repairs "Thanks boy. I am also a lab assistant after all. Now I think we're finally ready for this place."

He peered over the edge of the platform he and Rush had recently materialized on.

They were at the top of a waterfall of lava with smaller platforms dotted around all the way down. "It's like Bubble Man all over again only hotter."

Rather than respond, Rush simply leapt down to the closest platform. Mega Man nodded and followed him. After a few more easy jumps, they ran into their first obstacle. As Mega Man was preparing to jump again, something moved below him. A one-eyed robot shaped somewhat like a huge cricket quickly jumped from its platform to the one next to them and then to Mega Man's spot. Mega Man tried to shoot it but the leaper slammed painfully into him and then jumped onto Rush's back. The dog began trying to throw the enemy off but his back legs found the edge of the platform.

"No!" Mega Man shouted as he dove to grab his dog by the front legs leaving the canine's back half dangling. The leaper sailed to the safety of a nearby platform and turned to attack again.

Mega Man pulled Rush to safety right before being knocked down by the leaper. Now he was dangling over the edge and staring down into the abyss below. Rush slammed into the leaper from the side and it fell over the edge. It tumbled through space until it hit a platform upside down and shattered.

Mega Man stood, thanked Rush, and they continued on their way. A few more leapers gave them trouble but they were far slower and more careful now, taking the time to blast most of them from above. As Mega Man was dealing with yet another one, he took a plasma blast from behind and almost lost his balance. He spun around to see a squat robot on a nearby platform with rotating busters in its head plus a hole in the top that lobbed additional fire.

"So that's Shadow Man's game" Mega Man mused as he dodged plasma and Rush grappled with a leaper "Simple yet deadly."

After spending a moment dodging its attacks, Mega Man managed to dispatch the plasma shooting robot. At that moment, the leaper broke free from Rush and tackled Mega Man. He was unprepared for this and was sent over the edge of the platform. He forced the leaper off of him and it sailed right into the lava fall to its doom. Mega Man himself was seconds away from hitting the molten lake below and was only saved by Rush jetting in underneath him.

"That's another time I'd be lost without you, boy" he said as he rubbed the happy dog's head. Rush smiled and barked as they sailed over the rest of the platforms.

More leapers and plasma shooters tried to attack them but Rush easily sailed over them and followed the flow of lava into a narrow tunnel. Before long, a floor appeared under it with the molten river flowing safely beneath the thick surface. To conserve Rush's energy, they landed and continued the trek on foot.

"I'm a little surprised Shadow Man hasn't tried to snipe us like last time" Mega Man said to Rush. "I guess hang out with Robot Masters long enough and you start thinking like them."

Rush glanced at Mega Man but quickly looked away before making any sort of response. He was staring down the tunnel in attack mode. Mega Man hurried to his side with buster at the ready. Suddenly, a ball of plasma erupted from the shadows and knocked Mega Man down. Rush ran to attack this mysterious enemy but he bounced painfully off of what felt like a brick wall. They sat up and watched as a Met on one of the bulldozer like constructs from Hard Man's tunnels rolled out of the shadows. Mega Man began to stand up but was felled by another plasma shot.

He rolled backwards as the Dozer Met picked up speed. Rush had to scramble not to be run over and while Mega Man was peppered with more plasma. As they backed further down the tunnel, Mega Man suddenly remembered the river of lava waiting behind them. Mega Man tried shooting at the Met but it kept ducking into defensive mode every time a shot came near. Deciding to try something a little more powerful, he activated the laser absorbed from Gemini Man. It struck the helmet with enough force to rip it from the dozer and send it toppling. Rush instantly turned into jet mode and carried his master over the now driverless dozer. It was a bit of a squeeze but they managed to get to the other side and finish off the Met which was flailing like a flipped turtle.

"Let's get out of here before his friends show up" Mega Man said and Rush energetically nodded in agreement.

They hurried down the tunnel but met no further opposition. They skidded to a halt when they reached a wall of darkness. It wasn't like the lights simply weren't on up ahead, this was a sudden transition from dim to pitch black.

"Well boy, do you sense anything unfriendly in there?" Rush's ears twitched and he sniffed the air but simply looked uneasy rather than ready to attack "Well we can't stand here forever, let's go."

Mega Man's eyes switched into night vision mode as he entered the darkness but it didn't seem to make a difference. Their foot falls echoed slightly which implied a larger space than the hall behind them. Mega Man walked slowly forward with arms outstretched and straining his eyes to see anything. His fingers brushed against a wall which he barely avoided walking into. He felt all over and discovered that the wall extended to the left and right but ended not far above.

"Ok Rush, it looks like we're going to have to…ouch!"

His words to Rush were cut off when something heavy landed on him and exploded. Mega Man was thrown to the ground while the flash of the explosion illuminated their surroundings for a few seconds. Through the pain and confusion, he noticed that indeed the only way forward was up.

"We're going to have to take it slowly boy. There's a ledge but I'm sure that wasn't the only nasty thing up there."

Indeed, as he finished speaking he heard movement above and fired his buster in the direction of the noise. He heard it connect with something and suddenly the lights came on. His eyes, still in night mode, where overwhelmed by the sudden blaze and he didn't see another enemy falling towards him. He heard an explosion immediately followed by a pained bark. He managed to focus to see Rush getting to his feet and the pieces of another robot around him.

"You shielded me. Rush I…" he was torn between gratitude and hatred of seeing his dog in pain "Thanks again boy, really thanks. Let's get out of here quickly."

Rush nodded and they immediately climbed up the ledge. Mega Man spied large broken dome on the ceiling, similar to a giant light bulb, and he surmised it had caused the darkness. He looked ahead and saw a long, wide hall with the floor at different heights. He thought he could spy a large metal door at the end of the hall but he was distracted as a large grenade on legs popped into sight and began hopping the platforms toward them.

"Ok I really didn't see that coming" Mega Man said as he blasted the grenade. It went down with one shot but it exploded upon death. This one had been far enough away to not hurt them but it did reveal the identities of their earlier assailants. "Keep an eye out boy" Mega Man said as they continued on their way "We want to catch those things early."

As he was speaking, another glass dome lowered from the ceiling and darkness descended again "Crud"

He began shooting upwards as he heard rapid movement ahead of him. After a moment of random firing, he hit the bulb and restored the light. He was startled to see a walking grenade just feet from him, too close to safely destroy. Mega Man stepped forward and pushed the grenade into the pit in front of them. It exploded when it hit the ground allowing Mega Man and Rush to move forward.

They moved quickly and managed to cover some decent ground. As they were climbing yet another platform, another darkness bulb began to emerge but Mega Man immediately shattered it. Rush simultaneously tackled another grenade and caused it to topple to its demise. In this way, they carefully and slowly made their way across the uneven hall.

The large door slid upwards at Mega Man's touch and the two stepped inside a large, empty room. "Shadow Man, I know you're here so you might as well come out."

Rush was growling and turning quickly from corner to shadowy corner at a rapid rate while Mega Man stepped forward with buster at the ready. Suddenly, a shuriken struck the floor right in front of Mega Man's foot. Almost instantly, a second throwing star actually scratched Rush's ear. The dog yelped and jumped back but another shuriken landed right behind him, directly where he was stepping. Rush jolted forward with the star stuck in his back right foot. Unable to walk properly, Rush quickly fell into a heap while another shuriken glanced off of his armored head.

"Stop it!" Mega Man bellowed as he crouched next to Rush to both protect and aid him "Leave him alone!"

"You ask that out of sentiment and fear for your pet" Shadow Man answered as he landed in the middle of the room "I show more respect for him because I am consider how he has performed in the trails my clan and I prepared for you. I attack the dog because he is as much a dangerous foe as you are."

"Oh I see" the blue robot responded while standing back up "Trying to confuse and guilt trip me; throw me off of my game."

"Interpret my words as you wish but I am sincere in my respect of Dr. Light's work. It was also true when I disabled your friends when we last met. I would not have bothered were they not genuine threats."

"Well you certainly live up to the ninja ideal of honor."

"Indeed and now the time for words is past. You will now die by my hand."

Shadow Man leapt into the air with frightening speed and rained more shuriken upon his foes. Mega Man and Rush scurried left and right respectfully and managed to avoid the deadly stars. The ninja landed between them and lunged for Mega Man with a shuriken in his hand. He went straight for Mega Man's throat but Mega Man gave Shadow Man a face full of plasma. This caused the ninja to stumble backwards and loose his balance while Mega Man piled on more plasma shots.

Shadow Man rolled to the side and hurled the shuriken at Mega Man who had no time to dodge. He turned and felt the throwing star embed itself in his left arm. He looked at the sparking wound; it had only gone in half way but the damage was not laughing matter. He ripped it out as Shadow Man lunged at him again. Half on instinct, Mega Man slashed through the air with the shuriken and Shadow Man had to leap over him to avoid harm. Simultaneous to these events, Rush had stood up and tried to tackle Shadow Man from behind and now wound up hitting Mega Man instead.

"Now that's a sight" Shadow Man remarked as he gazed upon Mega Man and Rush trying to detangle and stand up "It's also a chance for victory" he continued as he swiftly drew his katana and prepared to strike.

Mega Man raised his buster and fired a Spark Shock directly at the sword. Shadow Man screamed as the electricity surged through him. This pause finally allowed Mega Man and Rush to get up and move away from their enemy. Mega Man, who had muttered an idea into Rush's ear while underneath him, jumped up as the dog converted to jet mode. Together they took to the air and Mega Man rained plasma on Shadow Man.

"A clever tactic" the ninja conceded as he dodged much of the plasma hail with nimble, rapid steps "But also a predicable one."

Shadow Man ran at the wall, leapt high and bounced off of it, and grabbed one of the pipes that crisscrossed the top of the room. Mega Man was momentarily distracted by this sudden and perfectly executed maneuver and had to duck to avoid another shuriken. He popped up and fired back but Shadow Man was on the move again, jumping from pipe to pipe.

After a few minutes of this back and forth chase, Shadow Man managed to close in on his foes. He jumped onto Rush's back and began grappling with Mega Man.

"Hey, there are no hitchhikers allowed on my dog" Mega Man said as he tried to hold back Shadow Man's shuriken filled hands.

"That just may be the oddest thing anyone has ever said to me" Shadow Man replied before kicking Mega Man in the shin and disturbing his balance. This, combined with Rush flailing while trying to compensate for the extra weight, allowed Shadow Man to push Mega Man off.

The hero in blue plummeted to the floor before and landed in a heap. He turned over so that he lay on his back and instantly felt a shuriken in chest. Shadow Man landed catlike next to Mega Man so that their faces were close together.

"It's called the Shadow Blade, by the way" the ninja said in a low voice "I know how you enjoy such details."

As he spoke, he pulled the throwing star from Mega Man's chest and aimed higher this time. Before he could do any more, Rush came roaring down and slammed into Shadow Man from the side. The momentum carried them both away and Mega Man tried to sit up. He leaned on his damaged left arm and it almost gave way. He lost his balance and collapsed onto his chest.

He was now staring at the struggle between Shadow Man and Rush. The dog was giving it his all, biting and scratching at every inch he could reach while Shadow Man tried to get out from under him. Though intense this struggle lasted only a very short time before a Shadow Blade found its way into Rush's belly. The dog staggered back in pain and Shadow Man drew his sword so swiftly that neither of his enemies saw it coming. Mega Man screamed in rage when he realized the katana had been plunged into Rush's shoulder almost up to the hilt and the other end of the blade was actually sticking out of the dog's back.

"Down boy" Shadow Man said as he removed the sword. Rush whined in pain and dropped to his knees.

Shadow Man stood up and turned to face Mega Man only to see a blue tornado roaring towards him. The full power Top Spin struck Shadow Man with unexpected speed and power and the blue ninja was caught in the vortex. After a couple of seconds of pain and confusion, Shadow Man was hurled across the room and he bounced to a very rough stop.

"That…wasn't pleasant" Shadow Man said as he struggled to a standing position. He ran a hand over his chest and continued in a low voice "There seems to be some internal damage. Perhaps my lightweight components are vulnerable to the forces involved…"

"So in other words" Mega Man interrupted as he quickly but tenderly helped Rush into a more comfortable position "Top Spin equals ouch!"

Shadow Man was initially taken aback by the crude analysis but then he actually smiled "It would appear so."

"Ok then" Mega Man replied as he turned to face Shadow Man.

He ran toward Shadow Man and activated Top Spin but the ninja was jumped over him. He turned on the spot and hurled more Shadow Blades as Mega Man came to a stop. Mega Man fortunately had halted facing Shadow Man and reacted by sliding under the shuriken. He began shooting upwards at Shadow Man and managed to hit him a few times. The ninja retreated and jumped back into the ceiling pipes. Mega Man stood up right as a Shadow Blade from above barely missed his head.

"Ok so we're playing that game now" Mega Man said

"I've said it before" came the voice from above as its owner moved through the shadows "Whatever it takes to win."

More Shadow Blades rained from above and Mega Man had to try to predict where they were coming from. He was also trying to stay on one side of the room so Rush wouldn't take further damage. Whenever he thought he sensed Shadow Man's location he would fire his buster but always missed. Finally, when he had a steady stream of blades coming from a specific corner, he busted out the laser from Gemini Man. Shadow Man dodged the beam but it ricocheted off of the wall behind him and again off of the ceiling.

"Well played" Shadow Man grunted as he tried to dodge the bouncing beam and maintain his balance. Mega Man saw his foe move into a less defaceable area right as the beam fizzled out and he fired another. Shadow Man's shoulder was brushed and he crashed to the ground.

Mega Man pounced immediately and activated Top Spin before his foe could get fully on his feet. The whirling hero slammed into the ninja and again hurled him against a wall. This time Shadow Man was having a hard time standing back up. Mega Man whirled at him again but had to turn to the side to avoid the katana he was holding straight out. Mega Man tripped over his own feet in the process and tumbled to the floor.

"You just don't give up" Mega Man said

"Of course not, I must faithfully serve my clan and my master."

"Yeah about that; who is your master?"

"You will find out if you survive this battle" Shadow Man replied as got to his feet

Mega Man said "Ok" as he slid at the ninja right as he finally stood up. Mega Man slammed into him and knocked right back down. Mega Man rose first and pulled Shadow Man into a standing position. He activated Top Spin and held onto Shadow Man for the entire ride, absorbing weapon data as they spun. Right as they began to lose speed, Mega Man threw Shadow Man away and he lay where he fell.

"You…have defeated…me…Mega Man" Shadow Man gasped "To be vulnerable to such a technique…embarrassing"

"You are very skilled" Mega Man replied "Had I not had Top Spin…"

"I don't need…pity. If we…meet…again…I'll be even stronger."

Mega Man nodded and said "While I hate to ask while you're…er…"

"Speak plainly…I am…dying…but my promise…remains."

"Who is it?"

"Dr…" his voice was very faint by now "Wily"

Mega Man was in shock as the teleport energy gathered around him and Rush. They vanished and Shadow Man closed his eyes.


	13. Homecoming

**Hello everyone! I probably could have done this sooner but I had some good ideas come in the meantime. I wish inspiration came for the asking lol. Anyway, it's time to begin the final act of this drama and I hope you'll enjoy it!**

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Homecoming

Mega Man stared at his surroundings in shock and dismay. His home was a wreck; furniture was overturned, random knick knacks covered the floor and even the walls showed some damage. He was broken out of his stupor by a whine next to him. He glanced at Rush who looked disturbed and on edge.

"Dr. Light!" Mega Man called out "Roll!"

"Rock?" Mega Man felt a wave of relief at the sound of his father's voice.

"Dr. Light where are you?"

"Here my boy" Mega Man and Rush turned around to see Dr. Light entering the house from the lab door. He looked disheveled and his work goggles were on his brow but he seemed unharmed.

"Are you ok? What happened? Dr. Wily is…"

"Gone" Dr. Light interrupted sadly "Albert is gone."

"Shadow Man said that he was behind every…" suddenly he realized that Dr. Light had appeared alone "Where's Roll?"

"She's in here" he said gesturing to the laboratory he had just emerged from "I'm afraid she's…not well."

"What!?" he vaulted over an overturned chair, ran past Dr. Light and found Roll lying on a work table. She was badly dented and even displayed some exposed wiring. "Roll, what happened to you?"

"Hi Rock" she said with a weak smile "Welcome home."

"Who did this to you?" he asked while tenderly holding her hand

"Our friend" she said this word with venom in her voice "showed his true colors."

"It would appear so" Dr. Light said as he joined his children. His voice was quiet and even but his hands were shaking. "Not long after you were abducted, things began to very badly."

"Tell me everything"

"Of course"

He picked up his tools and resumed his work on Roll. He also began to tell Mega Man about recent events while they replayed vividly in his head.

* * *

"I do wish we could do more to help him" Dr. Light said as he switched off the communication with the recently abducted Mega Man.

"He's Mega Man" Roll said "He'll be fine" she picked up her broom and twirled it like a bo staff "He'll beat up those space robots and be home in time for supper."

"Yes I'm sure you're right"

Dr. Light stood up from the computer and looked around. "Do you know where Albert is?"

"Probably holed up in his room again" Roll said with a slight roll of her eyes

"Or he felt the call of nature" Dr. Wily said entering the room "Something I'm afraid a robot will never quite understand."

"Well you'll be happy to know we found Rock" Dr. Light said

"Oh good, where is he?" Dr. Wily said turning on the spot as if looking around for him

"He's in the asteroid belt. That mysterious robot Break Man kidnapped him."

"Oh dear" Dr. Wily exclaimed. He began to pace a little while running a hand through his hair "This is absolutely terrible."

"Actually Rock seems to be just fine."

"Of course I'm concerned for him but I actually meant us. Mega Man has been removed and now we're vulnerable to attack!"

"I…didn't think of that" Dr. Light said while Roll dropped her broom upon hearing this disquieting thought

"We need to finish Gamma right now! Anything could attack at anytime."

"You make a very good point Albert. Work will also keep from worrying too much about Rock."

"That's the spirit. Let's go."

Soon the two scientists were working full tilt on the massive robot. There was no talk for what was necessary for work and the progress was swift. The hours passed and yet the two men continued to work.

"It appears that your fear may have been unfounded" Dr. Light said

"It's still too early to tell" Dr. Wily responded "You never know what will happen."

"I'm sure anything that was going to take advantage of Rock's disappearance would have done so by now."

"The deepest cut comes from the slow knife" Dr. Wily replied

"Er…indeed."

They worked a little more before Dr. Light stepped back on the scaffolding and looked up at the giant robot. "I think that's it. I can hardly believe it finally finished."

"That's my assessment as well" Dr. Wily said as he wiped oil off of his hands with a very satisfied expression

"Of course everything will have to tested and double checked" Dr. Light said as he climbed down to the floor

"I can take care of that" Dr. Wily said

"We'll do it together silly"

"I don't think so, my friend, I don't think so."

Dr. Light looked up where Dr. Wily was still standing on the scaffolding. There was a glint in his eye and his expression was hungry…almost mad.

"Albert? Are you alright?"

"Why shouldn't I be? Everything is going just perfectly." He mounted the ladder with surprising energy and slid all the way to the ground like a fireman on a pole. "That was fun. Excuse my zaniness but I'm just so excited."

"Albert, I don't like this."

"Oh in that case you'll simply hate what comes next."

Dr. Light grabbed a wrench in self defense but it was shot out of his hand. He turned back to see his old friend pointing a laser gun at him. "I suppose I just ruined any chance of you joining me?"

"Joining you? This was all another one of your schemes wasn't it?"

"Well of course it was" Dr. Wily responded with a mock facepalm gesture "Gamma will be a phenomenal world conquering tool."

"I trusted you!"

"That's what made it easy"

Dr. Light was reeling. His world was turning upside down. His friend had been back and now…

"No. You can't have done all of this. You've been here the whole time."

"Have I? You may want to check out my room later and you'll find a nice little teleport pod. Oh I've been so many field trips."

"Human teleportation is impossible; teleporting inorganic matter already a miracle."

"Well jail is very boring; gives one plenty of time to think."

"I won't let you do this!"

"I already am doing it. How are you and a silly little maid going to stop me?"

"Roll is more than a maid."

"Let's hope so. It seems that she's having fun with one of my friends; I suppose you were too overwhelmed to hear it."

In the following silence Dr. Light strained his hears and heard shouts and bangs coming from the main house "Roll!" he screamed as he took off running to her side.

He arrived and barely avoided a chair as it flew across the room. Roll was pretty banged up but still on her feet. She had apparently been tangling with the large and strange robot now cackling at her. Its head resembled a yellow skull while it's hulking body had a black torso and legs. The arms were grey and red with one ending in a buster and the other in a hand with a flat yellow apparatus on his wrist. It's back was ornamented with a green buster and a yellow drill.

"Dr. Light stay back" Roll said "I've got this."

"You don't 'got' anything, girl" the robot intoned in a strange voice. It was as if several robots were all speaking at once giving it a creepy "legion" sound.

"Who are you and what are you doing to my daughter?" Dr. Light demanded to know

"I'm just playing with her" it cackled "She plays very rough you know so I had to get a bit rough in return."

"You call this play?"

"No, I actually call it a distraction."

Dr. Light turned pale and said "Gamma."

"That's right" the robot replied with glee "It's already out of here and so is Dr. Wily."

"How, we would have heard…"

"We have our ways" the robot interrupted with a laugh

"Enough talk!" Roll shouted "Let's finish this!"

"Oh my, she seems to think she's her brother. Won't he get a nasty surprise coming home?"

Roll tried to run forward but her legs gave out. Dr. Light ran to her side while the robot cackled again in that unsettling multi-voice. "It looks like you two are having a bad day. I'll leave you alone to cope with it."

"You freak" Roll spat at him

"That's so rude. See if I ever visit again." With that it teleported away and Dr. Light and Roll were left alone.

* * *

Mega Man had sat still while he listened to this story. All the time his anger was building and now he jumped to his feet. "I'll kill him!"

"Technically the rules of robotics shouldn't let you do that" Dr. Light said in voice of forced calm

"That evil snake! We should have seen this coming; looking back it's so obvious! The new robot masters, the interest in building a giant robot…"

"I'm the worst one" Dr. Light said. Suddenly he swore very loudly and shoved his tool box off of the nearby table. Both of his children watched in silence as he then preceded to karate chop the wooden table so hard he left a hole in it. "I didn't want to believe any of it. I wanted my friend back and I allowed all of this to happen."

"Don't Dr. Light" Mega Man said as he grabbed his father's hand before he attacked the table again "Don't do that."

"Oh Rock…" Dr. Light sank to his knees and began to sob. Rock hugged him and Roll quickly added her embrace

"I'm so sorry" he said

"We trusted him too" Mega Man said softly "We all wanted to believe he could change."

"Yeah" Roll said

Dr. Light sniffed deeply and stood back up. His eyes were still wet but he seemed more composed now. "Thank you children, thank you."

"The thing to do now is to bring Dr. Wily down" Mega Man said with determination

"Yes. How to do it though?" Dr. Light mused "I seriously doubt his teleport will still work now. Wait…yes! The refractors that power Gamma give off a distinct energy signal. We can track that."

"We need to be quick" Roll said "Gamma is the biggest problem here."

"Yes and no. Alber…Dr. Wily will find that it won't be as simple as that."

"What do you mean?" Roll asked

"I did some of my own personal work on Gamma's programming. It won't respond unless the commands are given in my voice. Call it a failsafe if it ever fell into the wrong hands."

"Like now" Mega Man said

"Yes. I'm sure Dr. Wily can find a way around that but it will take some time. We must work quickly."

"I'm ready" Mega Man said "Rush and I will be out of here as soon as you tell me where to go."

"Then there is not a moment to lose" Dr. Light said and the family went to work.


	14. Break Man's Secret

Break Man's Secret

The clouds drifted serenely through a beautiful blue sky. A flock of geese emerged from a cloud bank in a perfect V and smoothly glided along with the air currents. One of the geese in the back turned its head at a new sound; a kind of dull roaring. The birds were scattered wildly and noisily as Mega Man blasted right through them on Rush Jet.

"I'm sorry!"

"Who are you talking to?" Dr. Light asked in his ear

"Geese"

Right…anyway I've double checked the readings and you are most definitely going the right way."

"Awesome. I still wish I could just teleport there but Wily did his job well."

"It could also have been that creepy jerk who beat me up" Roll chimed in

"Either way" Dr. Light said "the teleport system is completely fried and I was right about Dr. Wily's personal teleport no longer being functional."

"He certainly thought of everything" Mega Man said "Which is why I don't really like this. I feel so…exposed."

"Hopefully Dr. Wily hasn't been able to come up with anything too nasty in his spare time" Dr. Light said

"Right" Roll said with sarcasm "Because a hulking demon bot who's much faster than he should be and was probably keeping a lot of secrets in reserve isn't nasty enough."

"Good point" Dr. Light answered

Mega Man was suddenly thoughtful "Why do you think he wasn't fighting at full strength Roll?"

"He's covered in all those gadgets and only really used his buster and raw strength."

"I see what you mean"

"What else do you see?" Dr. Light asked "You should be getting close now."

"Mountains and canyons…it's pretty barren country really."

"Sounds like the kind of place Dr. Wily would like" Roll said

Any further conversation was cut off when Rush was struck by a plasma blast and knocked off course. He spun through the air while Mega Man tried hard to remain balanced. Another plasma bolt missed Mega Man's head by inches as he managed to right himself on Rush's back. He quickly looked in the direction of the assault and spied Break Man on an outcropping of rock in the ravine below.

"I'll talk to you guys later" Mega Man said into the communicator as Rush weaved through more plasma blasts "And old problem has come up and I don't think he'll let me just walk away."

Dr. Light and Roll wished him luck and then went silent to let him concentrate on the battle. They landed near Break Man and Mega Man had to jump away as the red robot charged at them. He ran right between the robotic boy and dog and had to raise his shield so he didn't slam into the rock wall with his face.

"You should be more careful" Mega Man said

"Don't you dare show concern for me!" Break Man snarled as he spun around and blasted wildly. Rush pressed himself to the ground as the energy sailed over him while Mega Man deflected with a Top Spin. Break Man ran at Mega Man again but Mega Man blasted him with Spark Shock. He failed to raise his shield in time and dropped to his knees twitching and jerking.

"Look, we've been on this ride several times now. Why don't you just…"

"What? Talk to you!? If only you knew how angry you make me" Break Man snarled as he fired a hail of plasma. Mega Man flattened himself against the rock wall of the ledge but was still hurt.

"You're doing a pretty good job of letting me know actually."

"I've only just begun!" Break Man bridged the gap between them in a few steps and slammed his shield full force into Mega Man. The blue robot cried out in shock and pain as he repeated this action several times and was only stopped as Rush tackled him.

"You stupid mutt!" He turned on the spot and blasted Rush off of him. Mega Man reacted in anger by tackling Break Man. They were thrown off balance and tumbled deeper into the ravine. Rush watched as the two bounced over the uneven surface while still grappling and finally came to a rough stop. Break Man leapt to his feet and pointed his buster into Mega Man's face and the hero only had a second to roll out of the way.

"Let's see how well you do without that shield" Mega Man said as Break Man realized that it had been flung away in the fall. Lacking his usual defense, he leapt clean over Mega Man to dodge the attack and shot the hero from the other direction. Mega Man quickly got up but the plasma had already grazed his shoulder. He happened to see Rush ready to spring to his aid but Mega Man held up a hand.

"No stay there boy; let me handle this."

"You won't be handling anything" Break Man said as he blasted Mega Man in the back. Mega Man fell onto his face and rolled away quickly as he anticipated more shots.

"You know, this is pretty familiar" Mega Man said as he popped up "Our fights are starting to get a little repetitive."

"You could just die" Break Man replied

"Or you could tell me what your problem is."

Break Man stood and trembled for a moment before bursting out "Why don't you ask your dad?!"

"Dr. Light? What does he have to do with this?"

"So…you really don't know…" Break Man's voice was quiet now. It seemed dangerous but also hurt.

"What don't I know?" Mega Man tried to take a step closer to Break Man but received a plasma shot in the chest.

"Maybe I'll tell you if you live!"

He made a flying leap toward his shield but it was knocked further away by a Hard Knuckle. Break Man himself was struck in the back by a Shadow Blade. The throwing star left a small but definite gash in the red metal. Break Man grunted in pain and frustration while ducking behind a small boulder. He popped up and fired a few rounds before dropping back behind his makeshift shield. The rock was pummeled by a series of Hard Knuckles causing it to crumble.

"It's not fair!" Break Man screamed as he fired a positive hail of plasma at Mega Man who deflected most of it with another Top Spin. "You have all of those powers!"

"You have a shield and a more powerful buster" Mega Man offered

"Will you stop being such a goody goody! I am trying to kill you here so stop trying to be nice to me!"

"I'm just trying to make things a little fairer."

"It will never be fair! You have everything! The power, the fame, father's love…"

Both robots froze. Mega Man obviously couldn't see Break Man's face but his body language implied he was suddenly angry at himself; that he had slipped up.

"You said father; you said I have father's love" Mega Man said in a stunned voice "Who are you?"

Break Man turned so that he was facing Mega Man directly and said "I'm your brother, you idiot."

Mega Man tried to process this and was struck directly with a plasma shot. While he stood back up Break Man finally recovered his shield and continued his assault. In between shots he spoke: "Did dear daddy really never mention me? The prototype? The broken one? The reject? Is none of this ringing a bell?"

Mega Man was too busy dodging and returning fire to respond right away but finally he found a moment to say "Prototype? Roll and I weren't the first androids?"

"Oh no; the perfect little twins were certainly not the first to come along."

Break Man leapt over Mega Man once again and fired from behind. Mega Man did a sort of pirouette in midair to move to the side while turning around to fire back. His plasma bounced harmlessly off of the shield and Break Man hopped to higher ground. From there he continued his assault on Mega Man.

"This is more like it; the first born looking down on his pathetic little brother."

"If what you're saying is true then I'm sure Dr. Light had his reasons for not talking about you."

"Oh like what?!" Break Man said as he managed to shoot Mega Man right in the knee. The blue robot winced but managed to stay standing.

"Well, it took him ages to finally tell us that he'd been married. He didn't say anything before because it hurt too much."

"He told you about Mom?" Break Man faltered in his attack and his voice had sorrow in it.

"Only once and only because we asked; after that he rarely mentioned her at all. Think how much he must miss you if you can't talk at all."

"Miss me? He was going to destroy me!"

"How do mean?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm obviously no longer welcome there. My replacement stands before me."

"Just because he build Roll and I, continued his work, that doesn't mean he replaced you. Let me guess; you've been talking to Dr. Wily."

"That is none of your business" Break Man said as he raised his buster again but Mega Man went on.

"It's not hard to work out. You even took me to fight his other robots so I couldn't stop him from stealing Gamma. You've been working with him and he's probably filled your head with hate for Dr. Light."

"Oh I already hated him" Again Break Man reacted as if he'd said more than he intended

"I don't know what happened between you and our father" Mega Man said "but if you care about him at all please let me pass."

"Why? So you can play the hero again and be the favored son?"

"So that I can stop an insane man from tearing this world apart; so that I can protect my family and the world they live in. We could do it together." Mega Man actually held his open hand toward Break Man and the red robot stepped back in pure shock.

"You're the insane one…so naïve…so kind…"

"If you knew and loved Dr. Light at all then think of those times. Dr. Wily has already attacked him once. What do you think will happen if Dr. Light opposes him again?"

Break Man stepped forward and took aim. Mega Man took a defensive position but nothing happened. Break Man just continued to point his buster for a moment before spitting out "Do whatever you want. You can't beat Dr. Wily anyway. I'll be there to laugh when he crushes you."

Break Man teleported away and Mega Man dropped to his knees. He was pretty banged up not to mention how he was still reeling from that conversation. Had it all been a lie? No, it couldn't be based on Break Man's reactions. Should he ask Dr. Light about all of this?

"Later" he said aloud "I'll ask him later. Wily is the priority now."

Rush landed next to him and Mega Man patted his head. "How about an E Tank, boy?" Rush barked happily and opened his storage compartment. Mega Man drank the energy restorative and stood up back at full power. He was still a little banged up but he'd been in worse shape. "Let's go boy, let's end this."


	15. Infiltrating the Castle

Infiltrating the Castle

"Rock?" Dr. Light's voice came over the radio "Rock, are you there?"

"Yeah I'm here."

"What happened back there? Are you alright?"

"Break Man showed up again. We fought, as usual, but…" Mega Man hesitated for a few seconds but decided to stick to his plan and hold questions for later. "I did pretty well and now I'm en route to Gamma's signal once again."

"Good. Actually I'm not tracking Gamma now so it's a good thing we already set your course."

"What?"

"It seems that wherever Dr. Wily is now, he's thrown up a cloak blocking him from being tracked. It will probably affect our communication as well."

"Actually you're already growing faint."

"What…say…very…quiet…"

"Dr. Light! Are you there?" his only response was static. "Well he did warn me that might happen. I guess I'm getting close."

This statement was quickly proven accurate as they soared over a particularly high mountain and spied a castle in the rocky valley below. It was a compact structure (smaller than the last castle) which rose like a tower with smaller towers on the side. Wily had placed his mark upon the building in the form of a massive skull over the entrance which was also flanked by massive claws. It almost looked like place was ready to get up and walk away.

"I should have known; he always does things with a flair…a macabre flair. Bring us down boy; he probably already knows we're here but let's not make our movements too obvious."

They landed and ran swiftly but silently towards the castle. The skull door appeared to be shut tight and he spotted no other obvious entrances. The pair crouched behind a boulder and tried to consider what to do. "I suppose we could fly up to a window but I'm betting their pretty well defended."

Rush barked at something and Mega Man looked just in time to dodge a large top. Standing on the rocks behind them was a squat robot deploying tops from its belly. Mega Man fired on it but another top struck him from behind. He looked over his shoulder to see the very rock they had been crouching behind now had a similar enemy on top of it.

Mega Man fired rapidly one of the robots while running in a wide circle to avoid the tops. Meanwhile, Rush had tackled the other one and knocked it to the ground where it flailed harmlessly like an overturned turtle. "Good one boy" Mega Man said as he dodged yet another attack from a third robot. "Let's deal with these freaks quickly and get closer to the castle."

The dog barked in agreement. They dealt with more tops and were soon dodging between large metal barriers around the castle; probably intended to frustrate vehicles approaching the castle. As the pair rounded a corner and came closer to the castle, Mega Man was suddenly knocked down by a ball and chain.

"I'm fine" he reassured his worried dog and he looked up to see one of the green robots from Hard Man's area. It was already twirling another heavy ball and threw it a second later. Mega Man slid underneath this and fired a Shadow Blade directly into the robot's eye. Blinded, it staggered around and gave Mega Man a chance to take it out.

Rush barked a warning and Mega Man was almost struck by a ball and chain from above. Another robot was standing on top of the metal barrier and gearing up for another attempt. Mega Man and Rush jumped to the side to avoid being crushed by the heavy projectile. Mega Man fired upon him but another robot appeared above them at another angle. At the same time, the top robots were again appearing at either end of their current path.

"Ok I'm pretty sure they know that we're here" Mega Man said as he tried his best to deal with the assault from all sides. He cried out as he tripped over something that seemed larger and more solid than what the robots were dishing out. He looked and discovered a metal hatch in the ground, almost invisible in the shadow of the barriers. "Let's get out of here" Mega Man said as he turned the handle with all of his might. He was relieved to find it opened without much difficulty and he quickly slid down the revealed ladder as tops and other projectiles collided over head.

He splashed down in a dark, wet tunnel. His eyes adjusted to night mode as Rush dove down to join him. "I think this is a sewage tunnel. It seems to head right under the castle so I'll take it."

Rush's nose was similar to a real dog's and thus he wasn't quite as happy with this turn of events. However, he followed on and tried to sense any danger ahead. The water was getting deeper and Rush was struggling a little bit. "You're doing great boy. If it does get too much, you can head back to Dr. Light."

Rush simply gave Mega Man a look and kept trudging forward. Mega Man laughed but stopped as he watched his dog freeze. Rush was suddenly knocked aside by something moving rapidly through the water. The same thing instantly happened to Mega Man. He floundered in the murky water and spied a robot penguin speeding right for him. He pushed up from the ground and used the buoyancy to rise above the approaching bird. He then struggled to stand up and helped Rush do the same.

"We'll have to take it slowly. They're not too dangerous but we don't want to be taking too many hits this early."

And thus they took their time moving down the tunnel and would dodge quickly if anything seemed to be moving in the water. There were a few times where they weren't fast enough and were hit but most of the time they managed well.

Mega Man realized that they must be directly under the castle by now. As he was thinking this, the floor gave way beneath him and he was falling into a watery pit. Rush had fallen a bit behind and was shocked into momentary inaction by Mega Man's disappearance. He quickly recovered and followed in submarine mode. The current was becoming stronger and both were sucked into a large pipe and quickly deposited in a room filled with water.

"I thought he'd be defending these tunnels with more than penguins" Mega Man thought to himself.

There was movement above; Mega Man spied an odd machine moving around on top of the room. As he was watching, it spat a green turtle robot out and it bounced around the room. RushMarine was struck by the turtle and howled in pain as it exploded. Mega Man fired upon the turtle launcher but it moved away on a track. At the same time, a small water spout erupted from the floor and carried Mega Man up into the path of an incoming turtle. He reacted on instinct and shot it. The turtle was blown off course and Mega Man dispatched it with a couple more plasma shots.

Mega Man landed but was knocked to the side by another water spout, this time from the wall. Another turtle was flying towards Rush but this time he caught it in his mouth. The shell protected it for the most part but he chomped down pretty hard before hurling it towards Mega Man. He dodged another water spout and shot the turtle.

The machine quickly spat out another one that shot between Mega Man and Rush before shedding its shell and rocketing around the room at an alarming speed. The duo also had the mini water spouts to deal with and Mega Man used Top Spin to quickly get out of the way. He collided with the turtle and it was instantly destroyed. Encouraged by this result, Mega Man tried Top Spin on the next turtle and it was quickly destroyed even with its shell to protect it. Rush was already gnawing on another one before tossing it to Mega Man to finish off.

They waited a moment but the device seemed to have run out of ammo for the moment. Not wanting to give it time to reload, Mega Man gestured to Rush while pointing to a large pipe leading upwards, hopefully into the castle. Mega Man held onto to Rush while he shot up the pipe and they soon emerged into a reservoir. Rush converted to Jet Mode and carried Mega Man up to a catwalk above the great tank and they were again on the move.

"That wasn't actually too bad eh boy. Uh oh, I hope didn't just jinx us."

Rush gave a laugh-like bark and followed his master though a door and into a new area. This seemed far more like a medieval castle with stone walls and a gloomy ambiance. There seemed to be no way to go but up and the only means of doing so were some platforms attached to the wall. Mega Man jumped on one and was preparing to jump to the next when the floor opened beneath him and he was dumped back on the ground.

"Oh so that's how it's going to be, eh?"

He jumped to the platform again and immediately leapt to the second one. This one reacted even faster and he was again dumped painfully on the ground.

"It's almost as bad as the vanishing blocks."

Rush rolled his eyes and turned into Jet Mode. Mega Man smiled and climbed on his back. They were soon on the upper level. Mega Man found a ladder leading still higher and considered just flying. He did need to conserve Rush's energy and the opening in the ceiling was small. He was broken out of these thoughts by a swarm of robot bees filling the air around them. Mega Man swatted at them and tried to fire his buster but kept missing. He continued his struggle for another few seconds before reaching the edge of their platform and falling off.

Rush soared to the rescue and snatched Mega Man up. Without waiting for instructions he charted a course directly for the hole to the upper levels and squeezed through. More ladders and parting platforms formed the path forward but Rush just continued to rise. Sometimes he had to double back and carefully negotiate his flight plan but they soon enough found themselves in a proper corridor.

"Thanks. I'd really be lost without you." Rush barked and wagged his tail. "Still feeling strong?" The dog nodded and Mega Man said "Then off we go."

They walked down the corridor meeting nothing of note until they came to a solid wall. It took a moment in the dim lighting to realize that the path forward was actually only a few feet tall.

"Well that's just silly…ouch!" He had been attacked by an enemy from the floor. It was the pincer enemy he'd met in Hard Man's area and only avoided more pain by jumping back. "Ok this isn't going to be fun. I'll have to slide quickly." He looked down at Rush who had no slide function. "Think you can keep up boy?"

The dog looked nervous but barked and nodded. Mega Man took a running start and slid right into the small gap. The momentum carried him over more pincers but they activated after he'd passed. He emerged in a wide open space and almost landed on some spikes. Fortunately, he managed to touchdown on a small platform that was free from the sharp terrors. He heard Rush yelping and called out to him. After a very tense moment the dog soared into view in Jet Mode. He looked a little beat up and had apparently been caught by the pincer machines on his way. Mega Man felt sorry for his dog but was quickly distracted by more bees filling the air.

"Oh crud" he sighed "Hey Rush, feel like just skipping all of this?"

The dog barked and landed only long enough for Mega Man to jump on his back. The flight across the spike lined and insect filled hallway was a little sluggish. Rush seemed to finally be reaching his limit.

"Just a little further" Mega Man said patting Rush's head "The next E Tank is yours."

A large metal door loomed before them and Rush put on a burst of speed to reach it. It opened before them and they landed in a square empty room. Mega Man was about to extract and E Tank for Rush to drink when a door on the other side of the room opened and large balls of yellow goo began to fly at them.

"It can't be" Mega Man said as they did their best to avoid the goop. His fears were quickly confirmed as the Yellow Devil began to take shape.

* * *

 **Man these Wily stages are short! I probably would have had to make stuff up to make a longer chapter lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed these two new chapters with more to come soon. I will be working on another project as a birthday gift to a friend but I am hoping to be able to work on both.**


	16. Old Enemies

Old Enemies

Mega Man had to jump to the side to avoid a cluster of goo blobs as the Yellow Devil continued to assemble. This left the weakened Rush on his own to deal with the painful yellow bubbles and took a beating. The assault ended as the goop (really made primarily of nano machines) solidified into a large beast consisting of a round body with arms and legs. It opened it's one large red eye and fired a plasma shot at the weakened dog. Mega Man jumped in the way and took the blast himself as well as the two that followed. By the time he aimed his buster, the eye had closed and it was flying across the room bit by bit again.

"Lay flat boy; most of it should miss you." Rush obeyed and Mega Man stayed near him so as to further shield him.

Mega Man tried blasting the nano-goo balls but even if he managed to affect them, they simply reformed instantly and joined the body of the Devil. When most of the body was formed and there was nothing else to hit them, Mega Man turned around and fired at the eye. It blinked in pain before closing and the body again disassembled. While fending off and dodging nano-blobs, Mega Man searched everywhere for the controlling eye but didn't spot it. He decided to up his game and fired a Spark Shock once the beast was reformed. To his horror, it bounced harmlessly off of the eye.

"What? Electricity did great last time."

Stunned by the failure, he didn't move in time to avoid the newest barrage of plasma bolts. Mega Man cried out in pain and was quickly pummeled by the goo balls which now seemed to be targeting him. This theory was tested when he collected himself enough to move out of the way of some incoming goop and it actually followed him. Thankfully it didn't do anything more than bump him once and continue on its way to the main body.

Mega Man was trying to figure out a way to put a quick end to this thing while firing upon the eye with his Mega Buster. After a few seconds, the creature did something new: it melted into a large puddle that began to splash across the room like waves. Mega Man and Rush ducked under the first large wave and the semi-solid mass fortunately arced right over them. The second wave came at a different rate and they had to adjust position and only barely made it. The final wave they failed to dodge at all and were quickly engulfed in painful goop. It moved on fairly quickly but Mega Man and Rush were still twitching from the shock they'd received.

"I need to take out that eye" he fumed to himself as he watched the goop again turn into the Yellow Devil "Take out the eye…take it out…that's it! Quick Rush, give me a spring boost."

The dog obeyed and Mega Man was propelled into the air by the coil now protruding from Rush's back. He was level with the eye as it was opening and he released a Hard Knuckle. The fist flew forward and stuck the eye between its regular set of plasma shots. The force and momentum carried it right out the back of the Devil's body and the body itself collapsed in a sparking, molten heap. The eye fell into this mess and began to reform the body but Mega Man was ready. He timed his spring assisted jump carefully and managed to punch the eye once again. This time the glowing orb shattered completely and the duo backed away from the useless yellow mass left behind.

"That certainly took care of that" Mega Man said as they passed through the door the Yellow Devil had made its entrance through. "I have found" he said as he retrieved an E Tank and gave most of the drink to Rush "that everything has a weakness if you look hard enough."

Rush barked, mostly in appreciation of the energy drink, and they moved on. They moved only a short way before the path once again turned sharply upwards. There were ladders and various platforms above them with no view of the top of the shaft.

"I do hope this is the right way" Mega Man said "I can't imagine something as large as Gamma being on the upper floors but you never know. Anyway…yikes!"

He had been cut off by a ball of plasma falling right next to him. He looked up again and saw plasma shots coming from the lowest and nearest platform. Some shots went side to side (and right towards the ladders) while others lobbed over the edge towards them.

"I think I've seen something like this before" Mega Man said as Rush again turned to Jet Mode. They rose and indeed spied the robot he'd seen on the lava waterfall on Shadow Man's asteroid. They avoided it easily but its friends weren't so simple do deal with as the platforms were built progressively closer together. Mega Man was repeatedly struck by plasma coming from all sides and angles while Rush tried to find the best path upwards.

They had finally reached a ceiling and only way onward was a very small hole in it. Rush landed and Mega Man fired upon the plasma spewing bots around them. The battle was very long and the blue hero was victorious. He looked up at the door in the ceiling and came to a decision.

"It's your turn to get on my back. I'll carry you up and you pass through first."

Rush was a little taken aback at this new arrangement but was soon linking his paws around Mega Man's neck. Mega Man began to climb slowly and carefully when a ball and chain clanged into the rung right above him. He had only a second to swing to the side as it fell to the levels below and Rush almost lost his grip. "I'm sorry Rush; that was a bit unexpected."

He glanced over his shoulder to see the now familiar ball and chain robot had appeared on a platform not far above them. Another heavy ball clanged into the ladder and fell past them as Mega Man again maneuvered out of the way. In a crazy moment of inspiration, Mega Man threw one arm around to the other side and began to climb up the ladders edge. It was clumsy work; what with having his arms and legs now on opposite sides of the ladder but it got them out of harm's way. The robot adjusted its aim and Mega Man accelerated his ascent.

They reached the door in the ceiling and Rush began to climb up. A metal ball struck Mega Man in the foot and he almost slipped. Rush paused but Mega Man said "Let him hit me, I can take it. You just get up there."

The dog scrambled up while Mega Man was struck again. He merely stretched as far upwards as he could to give Rush a boost and then the dog was through. Mega Man swung around to the front of the ladder and completed his own climb. They had emerged onto a ledge overlooking a large chamber with spikes all over the floor. There were platforms scattered about but too far about to jump. Mega Man was observing all of this when a "darkness bulb" (like he had encountered on the way to Shadow Man) lowered from the ceiling and removed all light.

"Well that's rubbish. How is anyone supposed to move forward?" The words had barely left his mouth when a luminous block appeared out of thin air. It was followed a few seconds later by another luminous block and the first faded. Mega Man watched this progression with a very irritated expression on his face. "That was not the answer I was hoping for."

He tried to fire on the darkness bulb but couldn't seem to find the mark in the blackness. "Ok Rush, I'm going to go for it. Maybe if I can get just a little closer I can take out the bulb. Don't worry" he said in response to Rush's concerned whine "I've dealt with these things before."

He still wasn't sure if this was the best plan but it seemed better than flying blind. He waited carefully and jumped onto the first block. He wobbled a little but maintained his balance. He then jumped as the second block appeared. He had already messed the timing up and the third block was already appearing. He leapt wildly and had to immediately jump again to keep the pattern up. He panicked when a block vanished before he could land on it but by some good fortune he managed to grab a solid platform with his fingertips.

"Lucky!" He said to himself as he pulled himself up. As soon as he was settled on the platform, something heavy dropped from above and exploded very near him. He had to brace himself firmly to not fall off but the blast did have one positive effect. The area had been illuminated for a second and he saw the darkness bulb above him. He shot straight up and shattered it, restoring the light. This allowed him to see another grenade enemy dropping onto the platform and Mega Man again braced against the blast.

"Come on over boy before the lights go out again" Rush immediately flew to his side. As he did, he head butted another grenade-bot causing it to tumble below and explode on the spikes. "That was kind of dangerous but I guess it worked out. Let's go quickly."

Mega Man had already spied another bulb lowering but this time he was ready and blasted it before it could activate. Rush took advantage of this to just his master across the room in the safety of the light. Another darkness bulb took them by surprise and they were flying blind.

"I think the end of the room wasn't that far ahead" Mega Man said to Rush and sure enough they quickly passed into light. Having not been able to see where he was going, Rush's momentum carried them into a wall. They fell to the floor in a heap and Mega Man said "Well any landing you can walk away from is a good one."

Rush barked and exited Jet Mode. The path carried them around a corner into a wide hall with no spikes or pits or similar traps. What did stand in their path was a large leaping robot very similar to the one encountered near Needle Man. It jumped into the air exposing its eyes while almost crushing them. Mega Man backed up and waited for it to jump again. Once the eyes were open, he fired his buster. He hit the mark but the machine kept coming. Mega Man was being backed into the dark zone again and had to slide under the beast.

He heard Rush barking as he slide and groaned when he saw another one coming down the passage. He mentally sifted through all of his weapons and decided to try simply blinding the monster. He stood up and attacked the first one as it hopped in place to turn around. His Shadow Blades tore right through the eyes and caused internal damage. The robot landed while jerking and sparking but it attacked no more. He smiled and turned to deal with the other one, almost colliding with a retreating Rush. It had made surprising progress and was upon them.

"Brace yourself boy" Mega Man said as he picked Rush up and slid under the great robot. He stood, let the dog go, and repeated the shuriken assault. His timing was a little off and only one hit while the other two bounced off the protective shield. It quickly bounced at him and he backed away and felt himself hit a large door. Leaving Rush there, he slid under it again and struck as it was turning around. This time his aim was true and the beast was destroyed.

"And now we get to see what fun is behind door number 1" Mega Man said in a falsely jolly voice as he climbed around the robot and rejoined Rush at the door. It opened for them and they found themselves in an odd round shaft. The majority of the walls were covered in very sharp spikes while platforms of various sizes came floating out of one wall and into the other. Above this another row of platforms was moving in the other direction at a different speed and so on up the tall room.

"Not enough space to really fly" Mega Man said and Rush softly barked his agreement. "It looks like it's time for more jumping then."

Rush sighed and jumped closely behind his master. They landed on platforms right next to each other and were rapidly moving towards the spike lined wall. Mega Man jumped onto Rush's platform to buy a little more time and together they repeated the motion to avoid the wall. Mega Man was watching above them very carefully and he nodded vigorously when it was time to move upwards. They jumped but only Mega Man landed solidly on his feet and even then he wobbled a lot. Rush had landed on his belly with his hind legs still in the air and began to slide off. He wasn't on the side moving towards the spikes but Mega Man was in danger of being jabbed as he took the time to pull his dog up.

"Get ready to jump boy" Mega Man said as he finished pulling him onto the platform and was now inches from the wall. Together they soared to the next safe spot and almost immediately up to the next level. This time Rush managed to scramble up on his own and Mega Man smiled. "Good work Rush; just do that a few more times and we'll be fine…I hope."

Rush sighed again but continued the trek upwards with his master. Finally, after continuing this song and dance for who knows how long, Mega Man spotted a bridge across the top of the room that appeared solid. The platforms were now moving so fast that Mega Man and Rush were in constant motion just avoid being skewered. There didn't seem to be any way to prepare for the final leap upwards.

"I think you'll have to be hero again" Mega Man said to his dog who nodded energetically. Rush's next jump involved him switching to Jet Mode and Mega Man's next jump led him to the dog's back. "Onward to solid ground" Mega Man cried and the dog howled in agreement.

A few seconds later they were on the stone bridge and walking through the passage leading out of the tall, evil room. Another metal door was only a few paces in front of them and, as usual, it opened at their touch. They entered a large empty room with no visible exits. As Mega Man was looking around, he heard a very familiar voice speak behind him.

"Hello handsome."

Mega Man turned to face…Mega Man. The clone was remarkable in its details except for one difference: the red eyes. "Well I say handsome" the clone Mega Man went on "but I think I still look better."

"I can't believe it; another copy of me. I fought you, or something just like you, the first time I took down Wily."

"You fought the Yellow Devil that time as well. It seems that Dr. Wily is feeling nostalgic…or maybe it's hard to come up with new ideas while having to deal with the nausea of working with Dr. Light."

"Ok now I have to hurt you" the real Mega Man said "It looks like I don't have a choice anyway."

"No you don't but we're going to be the ones hurting you."

Mega Man was confused but only for a second. He was thrown forward by a painful plasma shot to the back. As he was standing up he glanced over his shoulder to see two more Mega Man. They flashed identical smirks and pointed at each other. "It was him!"

Rush meanwhile was looking at the four Mega Men in utter bewilderment. This was nothing like he'd ever seen before and he wasn't quite sure what to do. Mega Man meanwhile wasn't so confused; he jumped to his feet and fired upon the clone right in front of him. His confidence slipped a little when the plasma passed right through the imposter and he was again struck by the ones behind him.

He turned around and fired on them but the duo was on the move. They began circling Mega Man and Rush while firing on them. They were quickly joined by Mega Man number three and it was an onslaught of plasma and evil laughter.

Mega Man was using Top Spin to deflect most of the blasts but was still a sitting duck running through his energy. He ducked beneath the blasts and hoped that the Mega Man would shoot each other but they were moving too quickly for that.

"Let's get them from above" Mega Man whispered to his dog and Rush carried him into the air. Once aloft, Mega Man rained down his own buster shots and one of the clones cried out and flinched as he was struck. "Ok so one is real and two are not, got it."

"We're all real enough to destroy you" the triplets replied in unison. They all took quick aim and fired a triple blast on Rush. The dog's reaction was a bit slow and he howled in pain. He shot across the room very quickly so as to avoid being hit again and almost threw Mega Man off.

"That's funny" one Mega Clone laughed

"He's so silly" another agreed

"Silly to think he can beat us" the third said

All the while, they'd been running back and forth causing Mega Man to lose sight of the "real" one. As he continued blasting down on them, they suddenly stopped and again blasted upwards in unison causing poor Rush to take more damage.

"Sorry boy. I'm trying to figure this out but their good."

"Why thanks" they said simultaneously before giggling.

Mega Man looked down at the three of them and was struck by a memory of Gemini Man. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that before?"

He leapt off of Rush's back and deployed a trio of Search Snakes on his way down. They each went for a different Mega Man but only one reacted in pain as it slithered all over him. Mega Man landed and turned his buster on that one, firing several rounds at him before the others blasted at Mega Man from the sides. Mega Man screamed as he was struck by the twin blasts. The three Mega Clones then scrambled to disguise the solid one but Mega Man was deploying all the Search Snakes he could. They quickly found their mark and again the copy Mega Man writhed in pain while the serpents chewed on him.

"I hate these things!" he screamed as he pulled them off.

"Yeah they're no picnic" Mega Man replied right before Top Spinning more enemy fire away.

He stopped twirling and observed his foe; the copy was looking rather battered and this gave the hero confidence. He charged at the imposter as it removed the last snake and tackled it. The rolled and grappled on the floor and the two other clones quickly lost track of which on was their compatriot.

"It's me you fools" the imposter shouted "Shoot him."

"No shoot him" Mega Man said in a rather good imitation of the clone's sinister tone.

The two Mega Man just stared in confusion while the two on the floor continued to grapple and occasionally shoot the other. Suddenly, the on one top leapt away while firing several Search Snakes. The Mega Man on the floor screamed as the snakes chomped and crawled on him and he was now beginning to spark and twitch. Mega Man fired buster shot after buster shot to help the snakes in their task and suddenly the clone exploded.

Mega Man staggered back due to the force and unexpected nature of the event and came to stop between the other clones. They looked at him and took aim before flickering out of existence. In their place were a couple of small round drones with plasma buster on their fronts. These machines hovered for another moment or two before dropping harmlessly to the ground.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again" Mega Man said as he was rejoined on the ground by Rush "Even the toughest enemy isn't so bad once you know their weakness."

"Oh really?" a deep voice called from behind him. Mega Man turned and discovered that a large odd robot had just teleported into the room. He seemed to match the description of the robot that Roll had tangled with. "I just dare you to find my weakness!"


	17. Deja Vu!

Déjà Vu!

"You're the one who beat up Roll aren't you?" Mega Man accused with a hard stare.

"Yep" he replied in the same multi-voice he'd been told about "I suppose I could have gone easier on her but where's the fun in that?"

"Fun?"

"Cripes, don't sound so surprised" the robot said in an exasperated tone "We're the bad guys remember?"

"So Wily is finally admitting it?"

"Hey if it's what the world wants to call him, who's he to fight it? I personally enjoy the title. I was built to do all the dirty work after all; might as well program me to enjoy it!"

"A robot hit man, as it were?"

"I guess so that would be one way to say it. Call me Doc."

"Oh well in that case, Doc, I can enjoy taking you down."

The robot threw his skull like head back and laughed. This somehow made the legion effect even more pronounced. "This is going to be so much fun, it's probably illegal!"

Mega Man winced as he felt sudden plasma damage all over his body and he noticed that Doc was standing in completely different part of the room. Rush looked confused as he too noticed the robot had moved. Doc laughed again at their dumbfounded expressions.

"I wish I had a camera. You guys look so dopey!"

"So you're fast" Mega Man said "I need to keep that in mind."

"Yeah I guess I am fast as well."

"Huh?"

"There's that dopey look again"

Doc ran at Mega Man so quickly he was a blur and slammed into him with the force of a train. Mega Man flew across the room and slammed into the wall. He slid to the floor, groaning in pain, and opened his eyes in time to see something flying at him. He moved to the side just in time and gasped in horror at the saw blade embedded in the wall where his head had just been.

"Is that…the Metal Blade?"

"I don't know" Doc said in mock confusion "Let's examine some more of them."

Mega Man didn't even have time to stand up as more blades soared for him. He flopped and rolled desperately to get out of the way as they passed just behind him. Suddenly he looked up and saw Doc right in front of him.

"Hello" the evil robot said "Goodbye!"

Mega Man's world was suddenly turned upside down as he was sent whirling through the air by powerful air currents. The whirlwind knocked him around before slamming him back down. Rush barked in concern but Doc fired a Metal Blade right in front of the dog, halting him in his path.

"Just stay over there, ok Fido?"

"You can do the Air Shooter as well?" Mega Man exclaimed

Doc nodded and said "Oh and in case you're too dumb to figure it out, Time Stopper has helped a bit as well."

"You have the powers of Wily's old Robot Masters."

"That's what I'm saying dummy. In fact, that's how I got my name. Diverse Operations Circuit or DOC; it's what allows me to have so many neat powers at once."

"That's amazing; you are amazing. Destroying you would be an act of vandalism…but that won't stop me." Mega Man was again on his feet and aiming his buster but Doc simply looked amused.

"Thanks for the compliments; so sorry I don't have any for you."

As Doc was talking, Mega Man heard something touch the ground near his foot. He looked down and employed Top Spin to give himself an extra burst of speed. The Crash Bomber exploded and Mega Man was hit by scattered debris left over from the last battle with the clones. He shrugged it off and turned to blast Doc, who was suddenly standing behind Rush.

"Oops, don't want to hit the puppy do we?

"Nope" Mega Man said "So I'll aim high"

Doc was hit right in the face with a plasma shot and was momentarily blinded. Mega Man immediately followed with another shot to Doc's face, this time with a Gemini Laser. Much to his amusement, Doc opened his mouth at just the right moment and the beam went down his throat. Doc screamed and twitched as his body sparked a little. Mega Man laughed but was instantly covered in plasma shots from a Doc who was suddenly right in front of him.

"Not bad kid" Doc growled "That actually stung a little but…"

Doc screamed as Spark Shocks covered him. Mega Man took the moment to put some distance between them while saying "Sorry but talking is not a free action."

Doc blazed past at super speed and Mega Man felt something pierce his back. He fell to his knees and reached behind to feel a boomerang. He ripped it out and looked up in time to take a Bubble Lead to the face.

"That's just to show you're all washed up kid. A few nice shots does not a winner make."

Mega Man hurled Shadow Blades towards Doc but the robot blocked with a Leaf Shield. He grinned and then hurled the whirling leaves at Mega Man. The hero had just climbed to his feet and used Top Spin to deflect as many leaves as he could. Unfortunately, some were actually sucked into his vortex and he was scratched up pretty badly.

"Betrayed by Top Spin" Mega Man said in frustration

Doc laughed maniacally and activated another Leaf Shield. He launched the shield while Mega Man dove to the side. Doc laughed again to see his foe flopping around on the floor but his sounds of glee turned to grunts of pain as he felt Search Snakes crawling on him. As he ripped the serpents off of himself, he felt the sting of many Needle Cannons striking him. His armored body was absorbing most of the damage but sometimes the needles found joints and other weak points. Mega Man screamed as a Metal Blade brushed his shoulder and Doc used this moment to get further away from Mega Man.

"I really hate you!" Doc growled

"Yeah well I'm not so fond of you either."

Doc filled the air with tornadoes and Mega Man dropped to one knee in an attempt to stay grounded. He fired a Gemini Laser and the intense beam pierced the wall of wind striking Doc squarely in the chest. Suddenly Doc was next to Mega Man and punching him hard in the face.

"Too bad Time Stopper takes up so much energy" Doc said "Or I would enjoy tearing your defenseless body to scrap metal!"

"Ah but then you couldn't enjoy my screams"

Doc laughed and said "You are not without entertainment value, I will say that."

Mega Man was trying to stand up but Doc kicked him in the face and the hero was splayed on his back. "By the way, what do you plan to do after killing me? You've been going the wrong way if you're looking for Dr. Wily."

"I'll figure something out."

"Assuming you live."

Mega Man rolled to the side to avoid more Metal Blades. He stood up and ran as the blades continued to fly. They struck the wall on the far side of the room and pieces of the wall fell away to reveal an empty space. Mega Man ran over and took a look.

"It's an air shaft; seems to go deep. Maybe even to areas of the castle I haven't seen yet."

Mega Man heard Doc scream in frustration and that was his cue to dodge. He turned on the spot and slide under another blade and fired a series of Spark Shocks on Doc. The enemy robot roared as the electricity found the damage left from earlier attacks. He threw up another Leaf Shield to protect himself from more sparks and glared at Mega Man. He hurled the shield at his foe and watched a Hard Knuckle fly right through the whirling leaves on a course right for his face. Doc ran out of the way and right into the hail of shuriken Mega Man was throwing.

"What's going on?" Doc screamed "I'm the battle robot designed to kill you!"

"I'm the one fighting for what's right. Also, I'm simply getting good at this fighting thing."

"Well I have one thing you definitely don't"

Oh?"

"Sheer enjoyment of the kill!"

Doc acted before Mega Man could react. From his corner, Rush barked in fear and concern as a Quick Boomerang struck Mega Man in the face. He staggered back but maintained his balance. Doc pointed at the long, thin scar that almost divided Mega Man's face in equal halves and burst into more laughter. Mega Man felt the mark and could actually feel a few exposed wires. Doc then employed Quick Man's super speed to deliver a walloping left hook. Mega Man was flung backwards while sparks flew from his wound.

"It looks good on you, kid; pain I mean."

"Well at least now I know another reason Break Man wears that full face mask."

Doc's happy expression twisted and he growled "Do you ever stop joking around; stop being so dang optimistic!?"

"Self pity and despair are things I can't afford. Besides" he said as he said as he launched more needles "it keeps my enemies off balance."

Doc was indeed unprepared for the sudden attack and the needles played havoc with his wounds. Mega Man took advantage of the damage, old and new, with Spark Shocks. Doc convulsed as the electricity ripped through him. Just as he thought the assault was over, a Hard Knuckle struck the side of his head and Doc lost his balance. He toppled to the floor and found Mega Man standing over him.

"You really are an amazing robot" Mega Man said right before aiming a Shadow Blade at Doc's neck. The already damaged head was severed from the body and began to roll away "I just wish you had a personality that matched that description."

Doc's head cursed while the body struggled to stand up and fight back. Mega Man sighed as he fired a Spark Shock right down the exposed throat and the body moved no more.

"Not bad kid" spoke the head "Not bad at all but it's too late. Dr. Wily is almost ready to unleash Gamma and you're a wreck. We win!"

Mega Man examined his wounds with a concerned expression. Rush bounded over to him and released the last of the E Tanks. Mega Man downed most of it while leaving a little to reenergize his dog. He then looked at Doc's head and said "You may be right but I can't stop here."

"Sure kid, go on to your death" The small supply of energy in the head gave out and Doc didn't say anything else.

Mega Man turned away from Doc's remains and walked to the exposed air shaft. "It's not much but it's better than backtracking through that mess, eh boy?"

Rush barked in agreement and they carefully began their descent.


	18. The Wily Machine

The Wily Machine

Mega Man and Rush made their way down the airshaft with a sense of urgency and uncertainty. They knew that they had to stop Gamma from being launched but they also had no idea if they were even on the right track. It was very unnerving to be crawling around in the bowels of a Wily Castle, never sure what was going to attack them or when. Rush whined softly and Rock stopped climbing for just a few seconds.

"I know boy, I know" he said while squeezing Rush's paw. On his back, the dog made a slightly braver sound and Mega Man continued his climb.

Suddenly Mega Man lost his grip and began to plummet deeper into the vents. Both boy and dog cried out in shock and fear as gravity continued its work. Mega Man scrambled to catch hold of something but his efforts were in vain. After falling several stories, they crashed through a large grate and landed in a heap on a stone floor.

"Oh man…that wasn't fun" Mega Man groaned. Rush looked slightly traumatized while he stood up and his legs almost gave out. Rock patted him on the head for support and the dog recovered a bit. "Ok let's see where we are. Dimly lit, stone walls and floors…I'm trying very hard not to say dungeon."

Rush yipped and glared at him. Mega Man smiled a little and answered "I guess I did say it. Let's just say cellar."

Rush nodded vigorously and they began walking. The passage continued without interruption and gently sloped downward. Mega Man was wondering if they really were beneath the castle in some sort of tunnel system, possibly converted from an existing cave, when a strange robot popped out of the shadows. It almost looked like a lopsided pile of stone and it had a block of compressed gravel in its hands. Quicker than they could react, it hurled this block at them and it knocked Mega Man to the ground.

"Defense systems everywhere" he said as he got up and began firing on the robot "I'm really starting to feel unwelcome."

The golem-like robot had already formed another block but Mega Man's plasma shots found their mark and the robot fell to pieces. Rush barked and Mega Man only barely dodged another block from behind. He spun and fired rapidly, quickly destroying the new robot.

"Let's get out of here before an army shows up"

Rush barked and they journeyed along the tunnel in at a quicker pace than before. A pair of the golem-bots rose from the shadows with blocks of stone debris already in hand. Mega Man stopped and took aim with his buster while Rush simply kept running. The dog, which seemed to have regained his courage, rammed one of the enemy robots in the belly and it lost balance. To make matters even better, it dropped the block of stone on its head and it fell over. It was too damaged to fight anymore and the other robot had been distracted by these events and thus was a sitting duck for Mega Man's buster.

"That's the spirit Rush!"Mega Man said as he gave his dog a hug "We make a great team."

Rush wagged his tail and barked happily. Mega Man gave him a final head rub and they continued their trek. After a few minutes and a few more golem-bots, Rush's ears began to twitch. He stopped and his ears stood straight up. Mega Man noticed and fell totally silent. He listened in intense concentration and thought he heard the sound of machinery ahead. Occasionally there was a sound like hammering or even a human voice.

"Wily's voice…" Mega Man whispered "Rush, I think by some crazy luck we're almost there."

He was just about to rush forward and bust the evil doctor when another sound overpowered all of the others. A slow, powerful series of thumps were now reaching their ears. Rush whined a little as the noise echoed and magnified in the stone tunnel. Mega Man peered into the darkness ahead and discerned something large moving towards them in an odd way. He was surprised as a large ball of plasma spiraled through the air toward him. He jumped over it but another ball was behind it and Mega Man winced as it slammed into him.

He and Rush dodged another whirling ball of plasma as their attacker came slowly into view. It was a large metallic crab complete with eyes on either side of a metal dome on its top. It scuttled on long, pin-like legs while a turret on its base continued to release the plasma balls. Mega Man jumped to the side of yet another plasma ball as it spiraled past him and fired on the large crab. His smaller plasma shots simply bounced off of its armored body.

"Somewhat tricky attack and very thick skin, par for the course I guess."

The turret turned to target him as the crab continued to move sideways down the tunnel. Mega Man slide under the plasma and ended up under the crab itself. He fired on the turret and it sparked a little. Unfortunately, he was a sitting duck at this range and took a full blast. Mega Man reeled back and fell against the beast's metal legs. Rush barked his concern but couldn't figure out how to really help.

"It's ok boy" Mega Man said as he ran past the turret and between the legs on the other side "I'll handle this thing."

He was unsurprised as it reversed direction and began to follow him. Mega Man fired upon the turret but could only occasionally hit it as he was busy dodging whirling balls of plasma and trying to keep some distance between the crab and him. This continued for another minute as Mega Man retreated deeper into the darkness of the tunnel. Suddenly, he hit a large barrier and could go no further.

"Oh no, I will not be trapped like this!"

He ran forward and dove into a slide for extra speed. He passed under the crab, gave the turret a quick blast, and shot out the other side. He felt a plasma ball strike him in the back but he was in the clear and headed back towards Rush. The crab again reversed direction and gave chase.

Mega Man wanted to get this fight over with and quickly so he mentally sifted through his options. He fired a Hard Knuckle and it made its painfully slow progress towards the turret. Mega Man smiled when the fist passed safely between the crab's legs and smashed into the turret, knocking it slightly off kilter. He aimed another Hard Knuckle but had to jump to avoid a plasma ball. He was scraped by the harmful energy as it passed by and he groaned in pain.

Rush, apparently not wanting to see his master suffer anymore, ignored Mega Man's earlier words and charged forward. Mega Man called out but the dog ran right between the metal legs and tackled the turret. He leapt on top of the cannon and it spun wildly trying in vain to target him. Rush bit, chewed, and clawed at the weak points left by the previous Hard Knuckle and the turret spun ever more wildly. The crab ground to a complete halt while the dog held on for dear life and continued his assault. After a few more very tense seconds, the entire apparatus fell to the ground with Rush in tow.

"That's amazing Rush, thanks" Mega Man called out as the dog shook his head to clear the dizziness and ran for safety.

As this was going on, the crab altered its appearance. The eyes popped off of the stalks revealing two new cannons while the metal dome opened. Dr. Wily sat in a glass compartment with an evil grin on his face as he worked the controls of the crab robot.

"So you think you've won?" the mad scientist taunted through speakers "This crustacean still has more tricks up its claws!"

"It doesn't have claws" Mega Man shot back "I feel so honored, by the way, that you took time out of your busy work to come destroy me."

"I will crush you!" Wily replied as the crab scuttled toward him with increased speed. It stopped over them and indeed began to come down on top of them. Mega Man grabbed Rush and slid with all of his might to escape being turned into a metal pancake.

"It is however very heavy" Mega Man said, still wide eyed from the near miss

Rush barked wildly and Mega Man looked up in time to a plasma ball flying towards him. He rolled over and let it strike his back rather than letting it Rush. "It's fine" he muttered to the dog as they both got quickly to their feet. The machine was scuttling towards them while lobbing plasma out of the eye stalks. Mega Man and Rush were dancing around trying to avoid enemy fire while it tried once again to get into position to smash them.

Rush ran one way while Mega Man used Top Spin to race in the other. They wound up on opposite sides of the crab and it paused for a minute before chasing Mega Man. He tried another Hard Knuckle but it bounced off of the machine's armor as did Spark Shock and Gemini Laser. All the while he was backing away from the machine knowing that he'd soon be trapped against the wall in the shadows.

He looked all over the thing searching for a weakness and it suddenly hit him. "Oh my gosh, how could I have been so stupid!"

He dodged the arcing plasma while running full tilt back to where Rush was standing. The machine slammed down to the ground but Mega Man had already run beneath it. He skidded to a stop next to Rush and said "We need to stop attacking the machine and go after the man."

Rush looked at him for a second but then beamed with understanding. He converted to Jet Mode and carried Mega Man into the air. Wily cackled and adjusted the angle of the nearest cannon/eye stalk. Rush swerved in mid air to avoid the plasma but Mega Man was too experienced to fall off now. He fired on the done with his buster and the thick glass began to crack.

"So you think you've won?" Wily said "I will crush you!"

"You've already said that" Mega Man said as he fired a Hard Knuckle at the cracked glass. Wily ducked and covered his head as the glass shattered. Rush swooped and Mega Man plucked the evil doctor from his chair. Now that the cockpit was abandoned the, crab machine simply stood there and Mega Man set his prisoner down on the floor. Wily dropped to his knees and began to cower.

"Please…please…please…"

"Please what? You're not getting out of going to jail. It's over!"

Mega Man's confidence turned into shock in seconds. He screamed as he watched Dr. Wily's head pop right off of his shoulders. The head swayed, still attached to the body by a spring and the face now had crossed eyes and an extended tongue.

"Awww, was that scream for me?" a crisp voice said from somewhere inside the robot clone "I didn't know you cared."

"Dr. Wily"

"In the…well obviously not flesh" Wily's voice laughed at his own joke. "I must say, you are quite persistent; I expected my castle to trip you up more. Of course, Break Man was supposed to take care of you before you even got here but I'll have to deal with him later."

"I must be making you nervous if you had to send Pinocchio here to play with me."

"Nervous? Now why would I be nervous? I will admit that I wasn't quite ready for you yet…but I am now."

Mega Man and Rush winced as light began to fill the tunnel. The barrier was rising and Dr. Wily was inviting Mega Man to come in.


	19. Gamma

Gamma

"Well" Dr. Wily's voice said through the robot replica "Aren't you going to come in?"

"Since you're asking so nicely…" Mega Man said and he began to walk forward with Rush trailing behind him.

As they passed the replica Wily and his odd crab machine, their eyes adjusted to the light and it became apparent that the tunnel ended in a large hanger. Gamma's huge feet were visible and soon the rest of his body followed as they walked through the large doorway. Mega Man thought there was something different about the giant robot but he couldn't quite tell what it was at first. He backed up and looked upwards. He saw that Gamma's small head had been replaced with a large orange one with spikes decorating the top. A circular glass window was set into the forehead and he thought he could make out Dr. Wily waving down from it.

"Do you like my improvements?" the mad scientist boomed from speakers in Gamma's body "Now Gamma will obey my every whim. It's as if he's become an extension of my body!"

"Your body's not the problem" Mega Man replied "It's the twisted mind controlling it!"

"My mind is brilliant!" Dr. Wily screamed

"Yes it is but you only use it for evil; to conquer and destroy."

"I'm not so different from most people!"

"Dr. Light isn't like most people and you betrayed and threatened him!"

"Greatness demands sacrifice. My world will be a perfect world of robots. Sadly, you won't be in it."

The eyes in the new head twinkled and Gamma shuddered to life. A ball of plasma, almost as large as Maga Man himself, erupted from the robot's mouth and Mega Man had to Top Spin out of the way while Rush took to the air. Mega Man ran as more plasma followed him and he had several near misses.

High above him, Wily laughed "You're already on the run and we haven't even really started."

"You should know by now that I have a way of turning things around" Mega Man said as Rush swooped by and he jumped on the dog's back.

"You try turning things around" Wily replied "I'll try turning you inside out!"

Gamma's fist, which now had huge spikes on the knuckles, shot forward and the heroic duo was almost punched right out of the air. They avoided it by swerving quickly but they came within inches of being in the path of the other fist. Rush was hovering directly in front of Gamma when the colossus attempted to crush them between his spiked fists. Rush shot upwards as the two hands clanged loudly together and Mega Man found himself looking at Wily in his control booth.

The two stared at each other for a moment before simultaneously acting. Mega Man fired his buster rapidly upon the glass window while Wily sent another Gamma mouth blast at him. The buster shots didn't even mark Wily's booth while Mega Man and Rush screamed in intense pain as the blast struck them. Rush spun through the air and Gamma punched at them again. This time the fist connected; they were struck by flat metal of the fingers instead of the deadly spikes but the force still sent them careening into a far wall. The stunned pair slid to the floor far below and landed with a loud, painful sounding thump. Dr. Wily's laughter filled the hanger and he caused Gamma to make a victory V with his massive fingers.

"And round one goes to the devilishly handsome and frighteningly brilliant Albert Wily! Can Mega Man and Rush make a comeback in round two? We don't think so!"

"The challenger wonders if he can get a time out" Mega Man joked as he climbed to his feet

"I think that's a fair and reasonable request but the judges say No Way José!"

Gamma took a mighty step forward and the ground was shaken as though by an earthquake. Mega Man and Rush were shaken like ragdolls as dust fell from the trembling rafters. The room was shaken by another giant step but Rush had already carried Mega Man into the air. They looped the loop a few times to avoid more giant balls of plasma while Mega Man hurled several different attacks at Gamma. Nothing from Magnet Missiles to Gemini Lasers could even scratch the giant's armored body.

"I think we need to get Wily himself out of there like we did with the crab machine" Mega Man whispered in Rush's ear.

"Penalty for mumbling" Wily jovially exclaimed as he tried again to punch them with those spiked fists "You should speak up so the whole class can hear."

One of the arms grazed Rush. It was a non-lethal blow but the jolt still sent Mega Man flying through the air. He landed feet first on top of the fist and ran up Gamma's arm while hurling Hard Knuckles up to Wily's control booth. Some missed but a few slammed into the glass and left tiny cracks. Wily's eyes bulged for a second but his cool was restored just as quickly.

"That looks pretty precarious Mega Man" Wily said "Let me give you a hand."

Mega Man turned and gasped as he observed Gamma's hand coming toward him. He knew it could easily crush him and he did the only thing he could think to do; he jumped. The hand soared over him and the floor rushed up towards him. His gambit paid off as Rush appeared under him and he landed safely on the dog's back.

"Thanks boy" Mega Man said as he took a few seconds to crouch and pat Rush on the head.

Rush barked in appreciation but was already swerving around another plasma blast. The ball of energy hit the far side of the hanger and the wall shook. Dust poured from the roof mixed with bits of plaster. Gamma took a couple of steps closer to the Mega Man and Rush while swinging at them and the room shook again.

"You may want to hold back a little bit" Mega Man called to Wily "We are under your castle you know."

"I can build a new castle if need be but I want to ensure that you'll never see it!"

The hands came together, Rush only had a seconds to rise higher into the air. Gamma clapped a thunderous clap and the room shook again. Instantly, the hands swung upwards and Rush dodged only to be tossed about in the wake of the giant appendages. Mega Man again plummeted, this time with nothing to catch him. His already cracked and battered body clanged like a violent bell as he crashed to the floor. His joints creaked and were a bit slow to respond as he tried to sit up. Wily's laughter filled the large room and Gamma stomped, causing another earthquake. Mega Man bounced like a doll and sparks flew from the crack in his face.

"Oh my, I'm not sure you'll last for the whole game" the scientist joked "We may have a case of sudden death."

"You seem to be taking quite a lot of joy in this considering I was so useful to you during the asteroid mess."

Wily's voice was more sober as he replied "You were indeed useful. You saved my life along with the human race but I can't let that stand in the way of my destiny. You'll only continue to be a thorn in my side."

"I guess there's just too much of my father in me" Mega Man replied as he climbed to his feet and discovered that Rush had landed near him. The dog allowed Mega Man to lean on him as he finished standing up.

"Thomas may indeed have the intelligence but not the guts. It is because you are like him that this is necessary."

Gamma tried to crush him underfoot but robot boy and dog were already aloft. Rush wobbled a bit and Mega Man knew he was nearing the end of his strength. They needed to end this soon but Mega Man knew as he looked again at Gamma that they could easily lose this one.

Rush and Mega Man soared towards the top of the hanger. Their aim was Wily's control booth but they were having to dodge a constant barrage of plasma balls and spiked fists. Mega Man reacted quickly as one of the fists made another attempt at a killer right hook; he jumped into the air and landed on top of the fist. He kept moving and in a few steps he'd landed back on Rush who had swerved underneath.

"Your determination is both admirable and stupid" Wily said "You can't possibly expect to beat Gamma, especially in your condition."

"One of my mottos is 'never say never'" Mega Man said as he hurled another Hard Knuckle at the window. The cracks in the glass grew slightly longer and deeper and Wily's eye twitched. He saw more Hard Knuckles coming nearing him and one of off Gamma's hands flew up to cover the window. The blue fists bounced harmlessly off of the hand and Wily laughed.

"What now, Mega Man?"

"I'm sure I'll think of something" Mega Man replied with more confidence than he actually felt "In the meantime, can you actually see me?"

Gamma's hand and part of his arm covered not only the window but also a good portion of Gamma's eyes. Wily realized the flaw in his plan as he flailed at Mega Man with the other arm and it was easily dodged. In fact, Gamma ended up blindly punching the wall which not only caused the room to creak dangerously but the spikes became imbedded. Wily grunted in anger as he tried to pull the arm free. He succeeded after a moment of struggle but the wall buckled shivered and the entire room shook.

"Seriously, you may want to stop damaging the room" Mega Man said

"Shut up!" Wily screamed as he dropped the hand so he could take proper aim at Mega Man. He was taken by surprise to find his foe hovering directly in front of him. Mega Man's Hard Knuckles came in rapid succession mixed with a couple of Gemini Lasers causing the spider web of cracks to buckle dangerously. Wily worked the controls furiously while Gamma's head tilted back and blasted Mega Man. He and Rush spun painfully through the air while Gamma spewed more plasma.

Mega Man and Rush's spiral through the air fortunately carried them away from the path of the plasma but Wily wasn't done yet. Gamma's hand shot out and snatched Mega Man out of the air. Mega Man struggled but his battered body couldn't even begin to fight the grip of the massive fist. He was carried up to where Wily could easily see him and the fist began to squeeze as the scientist laughed.

"Not bad Mega Man, not bad at all. All things, however, must come to an end. Good bye Rock!"

The hand squeezed tighter and Mega Man screamed. Sparks flew from all the cracks in his body and his thoughts began to jumble. Suddenly, the air was rent by a fierce howl. It all seemed to happen in slow motion; Rush was zooming across the room with so much power his rockets were spewing blue flames. He rammed the damaged window and crashed right on through with a sound so loud that it shook more dust from the high ceiling. Wily threw his arms up to shield himself from broken glass and wasn't aware of it at first when Rush quickly recovered from his stunt and picked the scientist up by the collar of his shirt.

"No! Put me down!"

Rush ignored this and carried Dr. Wily clear out of the control booth. The struggling man kicked a lever and Mega Man was released. Rush, still holding his grip on Wily, swooped and caught Mega Man. Mega Man was too rattled to say anything and simply hugged Rush until they were on the ground. Dr. Wily started moving away but Mega Man snapped out of it and raised his buster.

"Freeze mister! Stay right where you are."

"Foiled in the end by a dog…" Dr. Wily said in stunned disbelief "No, it can't be over, it…"

He stopped as a rock the size of a fist landed right next to him. All three looked up to see larger chunks of the ceiling breaking loose and falling. Wily's eyes immediately ran along the walls and landed upon the hole he had inadvertently made with Gamma's fist. A large crack ran up the wall to the ceiling and that crack was creating more cracks and loosening the structure.

"We need to get out of here" Dr. Wily said frantically "The whole place, the whole tunnel system could be collapsing."

"I honestly don't know what to do now" Mega Man said in a weak voice

Wily's eyes bulged in shock and fear. In the next instant a cascade of rock, dust, and metal fell between him and Mega Man. More debris was falling everywhere and he could have sworn he heard Dr. Wily scream as it appeared that a large rock fell directly on him. He couldn't really be sure of anything; he was at his limit and his vision was blurring. He knew he must be experiencing some sort of malfunction when he felt arms wrap around him while a whistled tune filled the air.


	20. Blues

Blues

"Oh Dr. Light…shouldn't he be awake by now?!"

Rolls' voice seemed distant, like it was coming down a long tunnel. The voice of Dr. Light followed with a bit more clarity.

"I don't know Roll. There's so much damage this time and he used up so much energy."

"He has to be ok, he simply has to be!"

"I'm concerned too but I can only do so much." Dr. Light replied. He then absent mindedly added "Sometimes I wonder if another lab robot would be a good idea."

"Aren't I doing a good job helping you" Roll asked with concern

"You're doing a wonderful job but you are programmed for housework and do it very well. Rock is a great help in the lab but he" Dr. Light's voice faltered for a moment but he continued stronger and clearer than before "can't always be here. It might be nice to have a robot around the lab who is specifically built for this sort of work."

"Auto..."

"He said something!" Roll screamed

"Yes I think he did as well but there's no need to deafen me. Rock? Rock my boy can you hear me?"

"His name should be Auto. Don't ask me why, it just came to me."

Mega Man opened his eyes and saw his father and sister looking down at him a mixture of love, worry, and amazement. Both were covered in grease and oil with tools in their hands. "I guess you weren't too sure of my chances of recovery if you were discussing my replacement" he joked with a grin. However at the use of the word replacement, a shadow passed across his mind. He pushed this aside for the moment and giggled at the looks on Dr. Light and Roll's faces.

"Guys, I'm joking."

"Oh Rock!" Roll barked as she threw down a wrench with amazing strength. "You…you…" her worry-born anger broke and she threw herself on top of him in a hug "You're ok."

"He will be at least" Dr. Light said with relief in his voice "We still have to finish putting him back together but that shouldn't take long. I have a lot practice."

"Rush!" Mega Man tried to sit up but his half repaired joints gave way and he slammed back down onto the lab table. "How is Rush?"

"Fine. He's fine" Dr. Light said as he continued to work carefully but quickly "He wasn't as banged up as you were and he'll be right as rain in no time."

"That's good" Mega Man said with a smile

"Indeed" Dr. Light said and he quietly returned to his work. Finally Roll broke the silence.

"How did you get home? How did you escape the explosion?"

"What explosion?"

"Dr. Wily's latest castle is now simply a crater" Dr. Light explained "It's hard to know for sure what happened and the wreckage has barely even begun to be examined. Perhaps your battle caused something?"

"It might have" Mega Man replied. We went on to carefully recount all that had gone on inside the castle, the various traps, the fights, and finally the encounter with Gamma. Roll had seemed very happy when he described the destruction of Doc but Dr. Light simply listened and worked. He only spoke up when he described the collapsing cavern.

"You damaged the tunnels and caused a cave in. If this was indeed under the foundations then the entire castle could have conceivably collapsed. As for the explosion, perhaps the refractors that powered Gamma reacted violently to these events."

"I thought Gamma was built to be tough in any situation" Mega Man said

"He was but mistakes could have been made. Dr. Wily's alterations could have caused something or perhaps we know less about the refractors than we thought. If that's the case we'll have to keep a close eye on any and all refractor based technology. Then again it could have been something inside the castle itself that exploded but it was quite a blast."

"So Gamma is most likely gone"

"I'd say most definitely gone" Dr. Light said in an even tone

"I'm sorry"

"It's ok. Perhaps the time wasn't right for such a robot anyway."

"Dr. Wily was down there. It looked like he was…I don't think he survived."

"I don't either" Dr. Light said with a slight tremble in his voice. He paused for a moment to blow his nose and then said "Just another moment and you'll be good to go, my boy."

"I'm sorry Dr. Light. He was your friend once."

Roll looked conflicted but merely said "I'm sorry too."

"Death comes for all in the end and I'm afraid that Albert chose his destructive path long ago."

Both of his children nodded silently. Roll said "All of this only brings us back to my other question. How did you and Rush get back here?"

"Don't you know?"

"No. We simply found the two of you battered and broken on the lawn. It was a real shock, I can tell you."

Dr. Light nodded the ok to sit up and Mega Man did so. He had been dressed in a simple pair of shorts for the repairs but now Roll handed him a T shirt. He put it on and sat on the edge of the lab table staring thoughtfully into space.

"I was sure I was malfunctioning, hallucinating if that's possible for a robot. Everything was falling apart, I was shutting down. Right as I blacked out I was sure that I felt someone grab me, almost as if they were embracing me."

"Wow" Roll said. Dr. Light listened in silence while he poured himself a cup of coffee. Roll asked "Was there anything else; anything to indicate who this mystery savior was?"

"Yes. There was music." He closed his eyes and tried to remember. He began to whistle a simple tune but was quickly interrupted by shattering sound. His eyes flew open and Dr. Light was shaking, his coffee cup in pieces at his feet. "Dr. Light what's wrong?" Mega Man asked as he jumped up and helped his father to a nearby chair.

"That tune...Blues wrote that tune."

"Blues?" He remembered Break Man's words and he decided to just go for it "Dr. Light do Roll and I have a brother?"

Roll's jaw dropped at the question but Dr. Light seemed to steady a bit. "Yes you did."

"I think it's present tense" Mega Man said "Break Man said that he was my brother."

"Break Man?" Dr. Light asked in alarm "That mysterious robot always trying to kill you?"

"I'm afraid so. He hides his face but he looks similar to me in many ways except for a red color scheme. He also wears a yellow scarf."

"Jumping gigawatts it is him."

"Who is he?" Roll asked "Why have we never heard of him?"

"Some topics I find painful to discuss. I think it's time though."

Rock and Roll sat down to listen to the story and Dr. Light began "Blues was an android designed by Noele and I. We couldn't have children of our own, not human children I mean, and so Blues quickly became our son. He was remarkable; his intelligence, creativity and overall personality pushed the limits of what a robot was understood to be." He paused to look at the twins who were hanging on every word "Much like you two" he said with a smile.

"What happened?" Mega Man inquired

"His mind was brilliant but his body was not as perfect as we initially believed. His energy core was flawed, it will very likely one day destroy him…I was sure it already had. Apparently I was wrong. Anyway, we knew how to fix the core and make him stable but his prototype body was very complex and, in some ways, fragile. There was danger that his mind could have been affected by the repairs, possibly even complete destruction of his personality."

Roll gasped and said "You wouldn't do that…would you?"

"I confess that I considered it." Both of his children gasped this time and he looked a little ashamed.

"Dr. Light, how could you consider that?" Mega Man asked

"Rock, you and your sister operate under certain parameters. You have an amazing capacity for free will but are still in some ways limited by simple nature of what you are. It might be difficult for you to imagine the emotions and struggles of a human soul."

"Please try to help us understand"

"Ok. Noele and I loved Blues very much, as much as I love the two of you. The thought of losing him was agonizing and yet it was equally agonizing to imagine that might live a long life but not as himself. Considering that there was a chance he'd come through the adjustments just fine, naturally I was tempted to go ahead and save him. This became especially true after the accident." He paused to wipe his eyes with a handkerchief and gave a great sniff. "I had lost my wife; I was desperate not to lose my son."

"Did you go ahead with these repairs then?" Roll asked

"No. I don't know what I would have done in had things turned out differently. He must have overheard our conversations because he became distant towards the end. After the accident and I began considering repairing him, he vanished. He must have run away. I never saw him again. I suppose I assumed his energy core finally failed. I don't know why I was so quick to believe that. It may be simply that I trusted my calculations or…possibly it was easier to believe he was truly gone because it gave things finality. There was no wondering, no worrying about him. I should have looked harder." His voice began to quiver and his children gathered around him.

"Humans are complicated" Roll said as she gave Dr. Light a hug

"Indeed, and far too often we are flawed."

Mega Man said "It looks like he made friends with Dr. Wily in his wanderings. I don't know what all happened but Wily must have converted him into a combat robot and encouraged any negative feelings Blues had towards you. He's very messed up."

"Oh my boy, my poor boy"

"We're all missing something though" Mega Man with a less somber tone "He saved me. Not only did he let me go after Wily's Castle in the end but he must have saved me from the cave in and explosion. It's the only scenario that fits."

"That's right" Roll said as this dawned on her "The whistle and everything, it all points to it."

"He brought you here but didn't want to see me…" Dr. Light said sadly

"Give him time" Mega Man said "As I said, he's messed up right now. It looks like he's coming around but may need more time to come full circle."

"You are becoming very wise Rock" Dr. Light said and the robot smiled. Dr. Light wiped his eyes and blew his nose. He looked at Mega Man and asked, in a voice that was almost jolly "Auto eh? It has a nice ring to it."


End file.
